


A Jinchuuriki's Destiny (LW Post)

by LuciusWalker



Category: Naruto, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game), Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:00:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 65,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22329730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciusWalker/pseuds/LuciusWalker
Summary: Stolen from his home planet, Naruto is introduced to a galaxy far far away. Thrown into the maw of the underworld, Naruto learns of his heritage, as well as his true calling.[This is a repost of AmusedLight's story, "A Jinchuuriki's Destiny." With permission from the author, I, as his beta-writer, have decided to repost the story here, in case FF.net gets anal about the lemons or whatever. Anyways, please enjoy!]
Comments: 9
Kudos: 9





	1. C1 - "The Ripple"

**[Valley of the End]**

The Valley of the End is the place where the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound meet. However, to the citizens of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leafs, it was a memorial. A memorial dedicated to the battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. 

Many years ago, an incredible battle took place there, where Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, clashed with the legendary Madara Uchiha. Madara, who had become disillusioned with the foundation of Konoha, used his Sharingan to take control of the Nine-Tailed Fox, using it as his weapon against the first Hokage. No longer believing that peace can be achieved with diplomacy and kindness, he decided that peace can only be achieved through domination and power. 

The battle was fierce, and the battle was destructive. The land around them was torn apart, shredded into oblivion as the two titans fought. Hills and rivers were born and destroyed as the result of the final battle between the Uchiha and the Senju clan. The earth shook as the Kyuubi roared alongside with Madara. The sky screeched as fire, lightning, and earth rained from above and below. 

Despite Madara Uchiha giving it his all, in the end, he had lost, slain by the man known as the First Hokage, but also as the man that was once his best friend. Hashirama, who mourned the loss of his friend, decided to create two large statues of himself and his friend, as a tribute to his friend. 

However, history has a funny way of repeating itself. Or more accurately, history has a funny way of rhyming like a tragic poem.

This is the case of Sasuke Uchiha, the last member of the Uchiha clan, save for his elder brother, who had slain his own clan members, sparing only his baby brother. Consumed by hatred, Sasuke had vowed revenge against his sworn enemy, doing whatever it took to become strong enough to kill his brother. That is when Orochimaru the serpent slithered into the garden, promising Sasuke power if he switched allegiances. After a few days of hesitation, Sasuke accepted his offer, defecting to the Sound Village with the help of Orochimaru’s elite servants. 

However, his defection did not go unnoticed. Tsunade, the newest Hokage for the village, had sent a team to retrieve Sasuke. That team consisted of Shikamaru, a member of the Nara clan; Kiba, a member of the Inuzuka clan; Choji, a member of the Akimichi clan; Neji, a member of the Hyuga Clan; and finally, Naruto, the unknowing last member of the Uzumaki Clan. 

Naruto was the most special member of them all, in more ways than one. For one, he was the carrier of the Nine-Tailed Fox, which had laid heavy destruction to Konoha a few years ago. Because of his fate as Konoha’s jinchuuriki, he was seen as the demon itself, and was ostracized from society. This might have crushed the souls of lesser men, but Naruto used his bitter life as motivation to prove his worth to his village. Declaring his goal to become the Hokage, he worked hard to become stronger. Eventually, the boy did grow stronger, meeting incredible foes and allies alike, and even learning some powerful techniques along the way, which included the Shadow Clone technique and the Rasengan. 

Naruto, the energetic boy full of spirit, had eventually made some friends along the way, including his rival, Sasuke. They didn’t always get along, but they had eventually grown to respect each other, and at some point, they eventually developed what some would call an odd type of friendship. 

That bond, however, is currently being tested now, as Sasuke and Naruto were now at the Valley of the End. They had been fighting for a few minutes, and at the moment, they were both evenly matched, both in skill and determination. 

“Sasuke…” Naruto’s appearance had changed as he was using the same energy he’d used fighting against Gaara. He now had claw like hands and his teeth had sharpened like a fox, with his blue eyes turning angry red. “I will take you back to the village even its the LAST thing I will do!” Naruto yelled, running towards him over the water and throwing a powerful punch at the cursed-seal form Uchiha, who was sent back into the stone wall with a loud CRASH! The Uchiha was sent flying back so hard that it crushed the mountain wall behind him, causing some dust and debris to fall on him. 

No movement was seen in the crater for a good five minutes, giving Naruto little breathing time.

“Don’t be foolish…” Sasuke finally spoke out from the crater he now stood in. He slowly walked out of the crater, now fully transformed into his cursed seal form. His skin turned dark-grey like his eyes, and his hair grew longer as they turned dark blue. Sprouting from his back were webbed-claw-shaped wings from his back, and a star-shaped mark appeared across the bridge of his nose. 

Sasuke, now in his fully formed cursed form, shouted, “And why do you even care?! Like I said, you never had a family! You’ve always been alone! So don’t try to stop me!” 

This had hit a nerve for the young blonde. Naruto wished he had the words to convince him from turning away, but he knew that Sasuke had a point. He never grew up with a mother cooking for him, since he had to catch food and cook it himself. He never had a father to teach him anything until he finally got to the academy, where he began to learn how to read and write. Growing up alone with no one to look after him, he learned quickly how to survive on the streets after being kicked out of the orphanage until a few folks came into his life to help him out. Like the late Third Hokage, who he called Old Man, who gave him a home to sleep in, and Iruka, who helped him after school hours to learn how to read and write.

Then came others like Shikamaru and Choji, who didn’t shun him away like the other kids, and frequently hung out with him. Then came the whole Team 7, the very same team that he hung out with. The very same group of people that he ate with, fought with, argued with, and had fun with. The very same team that made him feel like he was a part of a family...

Then there was Haku, the rogue shinobi who he met before the fight on the bridge, who taught him that true strength came from protecting those you love. Even though he turned out to be the enemy, in the end Naruto knew that they were never truly enemies, and that perhaps in another life, they could’ve been friends. 

And then there was Gaara. Poor, lonely Gaara, who was a fellow jinchuuriki who had it even worse than him. Gaara, who everyone hated and shunned, including his own father. Poor Gaara, who had nobody to tell him that it was alright, and that the world hasn’t abandoned him.

  
  


Then he came along-an outsider from a different village that he was attacking. He, who understood his pain better than anyone else, even though Gaara had a sister and a brother to grow up with. He was the one that healed Gaara’s wound, and was the first time to that stopped to realize who he was, and what he was not. He was the first one to not call him a monster, but rather, a friend. 

He had found people to care about, and thus, people to protect, and he was not going to let his loved one get lost in a mission for revenge that he may never walk away from. “Even if I don’t know how you went through without your family, you still need to know,” Naruto started channeling huge amounts of chakra into the palm of his hand. “That you’ve still got memories of them while I didn’t And you still got people that care about you! And I’ll be damned if I let you turn your back on them!”

It could’ve been just him, but for a split second, he thought he saw pain in Sasuke’s eyes. For a fraction of a second, he thought that his eyes, which was full of anger and hatred, dim a little, as if remembering all the memories he shared with Naruto. Every good and bad moments that they shared, and even in the rare times that Sasuke would smile, which would always send Sakura into a cheer. 

Then that moment was gone, sadness and regret being consumed by the black fires of rage and hatred. 

“Enough! Let’s end this!” Sasuke yelled as he summoned his next attack with the remaining chakra he had left in his body, running towards Naruto with the sound of a thousand chirping birds coming out from his hand that was filled with lightning. 

“CHIDORI!”

“RASENGAN!” Naruto’s hand was filled with his most powerful technique as he rushed towards his friend. His arm stretched forward, he summoned every bit of energy he had left in his bones. He would not let the one person he considered the closest as a brother to the despair of revenge…

“I’LL TAKE YOU BACK TO THE VILLAGE, NO MATTER WHAT!!!!”

The two techniques combined with an overwhelming force, that it had an unintended reaction that soon not only was felt around the area, but also into places no one expected.

The two techniques clashed once again, making the air and the water ripple with pure power. The two boys screamed as they fought for dominance, not willing to lose their battle. 

Naruto felt many things in that moment. 

Fear. The fear of losing his friend, and fear of losing this battle. 

Hatred. Hatred for everything that’s happened to him, everything that he missed out on that Sasuke was taking for granted, even after everything he had lost and still had. 

Sadness. Sadness for the fact that one of his only friends was going to leave him for power. 

Anger. Anger at everything. At his shitty life. At the way Gaara was treated. At the way that Sasuke made Sakura cry. At the way that he made him cry. At the way that Sasuke was just going to throw everything away for revenge, even the people that still cared about him. Anger at the fact that Sasuke got everything from the start, while he lost everything at the beginning. 

Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly as he felt his attack being pushed back. Something was changing. Something was different. Naruto’s attack seemed to have been growing stronger, and it was pushing him back! 

Little did the both of them know, that somewhere else in the vast universe, other people were also feeling this change. This surge of power, which Sasuke and Naruto was barely comprehending, was being felt on the other side of the galaxy. 

* * *

**24 BBY - [Coruscant; Jedi Temple]**

  
  


Meanwhile, on a planet that was countless lightyears away from the planet that Naruto and Sasuke were on, there was a disturbance amongst a certain group of people. 

On Coruscant, in the middle of the biggest city of the Grand Republic, was a temple, lived more than 10,000 Jedi, who were wielders of the Force that called this place their home, with Jedi Masters teaching their Padawans and younglings the ways of the Force in their daily lessons. 

No, the disturbance didn’t come from the fact that dozens of Star Systems just left the Republic, forming into what they called themselves “The Confederacy of Independent Systems.” No, the disturbance had nothing to do with politics. Instead, it was the Force itself, or rather, something disturbing the once tranquil pond. 

In that singular, simultaneous moment, every single Jedi froze in their steps. Some were bathing. Some were training. Some were reading. Some were teaching the younglings. Some were meditating. Regardless, every single one of them felt a shockwave in the Force, as if a large rock had suddenly been dropped into the pond, and they were the fish that was feeling the impact. 

The younglings fell on their knees, unsure of how to deal with the wave of emotions that was overwhelming them. Fear. Anger. Hatred. 

The Dark Side. 

The knights and the padawans all stumbled on their feet, as if an earthquake had rocked the land, leaving them gasping for air. 

Meanwhile up above, the Jedi Masters weren’t doing much better. They all shuddered at the sudden wave of dark emotions. They all shivered at the feeling that most hadn’t felt in many years, if ever. 

The Dark Side. 

“The Sith?” 

Mace Windu closed his eyes to try figure out through the Force what that was; the strong surge of power was still present, and what he saw was terrifying:

_A large, fox with nine tails snarling as it roared in what he assumed to be in rage. It’s glowing, red eyes then looked at Windu, and he could look no longer._

One of the Masters, a small, Lannik male named Piell, put his hand over his head. “This presence…I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

Another master, a Togruta female by the name of Shaak Ti, who wasn’t normally the type to be easily rattled, found herself to be stunned by this anomaly. 

“This isn’t normal.” She murmured. “It feels...so...different.” 

Yoda, on the other hand, was very calm, years of training keeping him focused and calm as everyone else was too busy chatting about what the new element could be. 

“It must’ve been Dooku, no doubt about it.”

“No, not even Dooku is that powerful.” Plo Koon, a masked Kel Dor said, scratching his chin. “This is something far more powerful. Something far more...potent in the dark side of the force.” 

“Fear…”

All the other masters present in the room turned to the small, Grand Master, who spoke, his quiet voice instantly commanding their attention.

“Master?” Shaak Ti asked. 

“Fear...hatred…” The small, green Jedi continued, before opening his eyes. “Anger...sadness.” Yoda slowly listed. “The feelings of a boy. Pain, he is in. Terrible pain.”

That honestly surprised many of the Jedi masters, their first assumption being that the source was coming from a Sith, but when Master Yoda named up the emotions, they began to wonder otherwise. 

Windu snapped out of his shock quickly, silently noting that the last time the Grand Master felt something like this, it was with the future Padawan Skywalker, who, for some reason, was on Tatooine. 

“Pinpoint the location we must.” Yoda declared. “Of the source of the power, finding out we must.” 

“Somebody get to the communication center.” Windu commanded. “We need to try and find out where this power is coming from.”

“Not on regular map, this will be found.” Yoda said, gained their attention again while standing up from his seat. He began to walk towards the exit. “The Jedi Archives, go we must.”

“Why, Master?”

“Power like this, I’m familiar with.” Yoda just kept walking as he thought back on it. “Felt this I never had, not since Padawan days of mine…”

  
  


This, again, stunned some of the other Jedi Masters. His Padawan days? That was almost over 600 years ago. Did the Grand Master know something the others didn’t? 

“Never felt this since…that terrible battle in Elementia.”

… 

**[Jedi Archives]**

In the midst of the Archives, many of the Jedi were still trying to cope with what they just felt through the force. Those who were more experienced quickly got a hold of themselves ,and were trying to help the younger ones who were struggling with the surge.

One of those who was helping out a young padawan was Jocasta Nu, who was comforting a young Togruta girl, who was covering her ears as she was tearing up.

“Be calm, young one.” She whispered to her in a calm tone. “I’m here for you, nothing will happen.”

“This anger, Master.” The youngling shrieked, with tears falling down her cheeks. “Why is it so angry?” This was happening all over the temple, with Jedi Knights and Masters suddenly found themselves trying to help the Padawans and the younglings from going into panic attacks, as they weren’t prepared for such an intense wave of the Dark Side. It grew so bad that even the medical bay had to send droids into the Archives to help out.

A few exceptions to that was one Anakin Skywalker, who just got back with Obi Wan Kenobi from a Senate meeting, and felt that powerful surge of the Dark Side just when they returned to the temple. 

Stumbling, Padawan Anakin Skywalker had to take a moment to recover himself, alongside of Obi Wan. After a minute of meditation, Anakin was finally calm enough to finally analyze the situation in front of him. Anakin found himself dumbfounded by the amount of Jedi who were being helped by the others. “Master, have you seen something like this before?”

“No, Anakin.” Obi Wan calmly answered that question while observing the scene, quite stunned by this as he wondered where that surge came from. Just then, he noticed Master Yoda and almost all of the Council Members following the Grand Master walking towards the Holocron Vault.

Walking up to them was Jocasta Nu, who was quietly asking the Grand Master, “Master Yoda, that power...the Padawans, they-”

“Please, Master Jocasta.” Yoda said while continuing to walk towards the vault. “The vault in, I must.”

“If you say so.” Master Jocasta stepped aside as Yoda walked up to the Holocron Vault.

Yoda raised his hand, and unlocked the Vault with the Force. “Wait here, you must.” 

The other masters understood him, and watched the Grand Master walk inside the vault alone. The moment the eldest Jedi stepped inside, the vault closed right behind him.

… 

If any normal civilian were to enter the Holocron Vault, the first thing they would notice would be the impressive amount of glowing, metal boxes, which contained priceless information that only the Jedi could access. If they stayed long enough, they would also notice how eerily quiet the tomb-like vault really is, with the only sounds they might hear would be their own breathing, or in this case, the sound of Yoda’s cane tapping as he walked leisurely to his destination. 

This is one of the many ways the Jedi are so different than the average person. This is also one of the many reasons to how different a Master is to a youngling. If Yoda concentrated hard enough, he would’ve been able to hear every single one of the Holocrons, each of them whispering their messages to the powerful force-wielder. 

This would drive any normal person or even a youngling mad, which is why it’s also a blessing that only Masters can automatically hear them, for only the Masters have a high enough skill to block out the endless chatter that would arise from the glowing, blue boxes. 

_‘Found it, I have.’_ Yoda thought to himself as he raised his hand. 

With a quiet hiss, one of the holocrons popped out of the wall. It gently floated towards Yoda’s awaiting hands. He cradled the holocron with care, as if one would care for a hatching egg - or a thermal detonator. 

“Long time has it been, holding this.” Yoda stared at the holocron, which held the knowledge of ancient history that he was unfortunate to be a part of. Locked away in this holocron, he had hoped that he would never have to open it again. Sadly though, the force had just proven him wrong, and it would appear that he would have to return to that planet.

Turning around while holding the holocron, he made his way back towards the exit of the Vault and prepared himself for the reactions those who would find out that a secret was being held from them for almost over seven centuries.

… 

  
  


In the Jedi Temple Communications Center, seats and spots were being taken as it was being filled with Jedi of all ranks, including some younglings, who had calmed down at this point, and was more curious than terrified at what could’ve caused “The Ripple”, as some have already dubbed it. 

Windu walked up to the holoprojector table. Turning on the map, all of the lights dimmed down, with the only source of light being the glowing, holographic map of the galaxy, which almost took up the whole room. Yoda walked up to the holoprojector, and placed the holocron on the floor just in front of it. 

“What’s the master doing?” One youngling whispered. 

“I don't know, maybe it has something to do with that sudden surge we had felt.”

  
  


All chatter stopped when Yoda sat in his meditative position as he began to concentrate into the Force. Everyone knew to remain silent as possible, else they accidentally interrupt the wise master while he was connecting to the Force. 

  
  


The holocron began to slowly open, splitting itself into dozens of pieces. All of those pieces floated away from each other as a small, ball of light rose up from the holocron. The ball of light floated upwards towards the holoprojector, before it began to glow brighter, the small ball of light becoming a miniature sun, blinding anyone who didn’t cover their eyes immediately. 

“Ah, my eyes!”

“Too bright!”

“What the kriff?!”

The brightness only lasted for a brief moment before it dimmed down, allowing every Jedi in the room to see again. When they looked around, they noticed that the Galactic map was still there, and that Master Yoda was now standing on his feet again. At first everyone thought that nothing had happened, until a youngling noticed something.

“Look!” A small, Twi’lek youngling pointed upwards the map. “Over there!”

Everyone looked up, but didn’t see what the Youngling meant until Anakin noticed where the young boy was pointing at. Right at the southern sectors of the Outer Rim, just underneath the Sujimis and the Samix sector, now laid another sector in place of the void that was previously there.

“No way.” This got Anakin to speak out. “There! That’s an-”

“Yes, young Skywalker. A secret sector, it is.” Yoda replied to Anakin’s outburst. “Kept in the dark, everyone were. Two more planets with life, there are. Called the Omega Sector, it is. The planets, Elementia and Earth.”

This took everyone by surprise, with many of them, younglings included, being excited to find out about a new life somewhere around the Galaxy, while others were wondering why this was kept a secret by the Grand Master. 

One of those Jedi was Oppo Rancisis, a Jedi Master who was a Thisspiasian male, and also one of their oldest members, wondered why Yoda has kept this all a secret. “Massster Yoda, what’sss the meaning of thisss? Keeping the exissstence of thisss inhabited sssector away from the ressst of the Galaxy?”

“I would like to know myself, Master.” Ki-Adi-Mundi, a male, Cerean Jedi Master asked calmly. 

“Different reasons, both planets have.” Yoda said solemnly. “Both planets, extremely unaware, life beyond their planets they don’t know. No knowledge of each other, they do not.” Yoda’s ears then drooped in weariness. “...Violent, both planets are.”

“How violent do you mean by that, Master?” Master Luminara questioned, who was an Mirialan female Jedi who just got back from Kashyyyk with her padawan, Barriss Offee.

“Many wars experienced, Earth has.” Yoda explained to them. “Many wars, more vicious they turn, more deadlier their weapons become, more life perished, it resulted. Not like any other planet they killed more.” Yoda spared the details to the knowledge of Earth’s history he knew, now that he had revealed it to the Jedi it would be only a matter of time that this will be knowledge to the intergalactic community.

“But Master Yoda, what about the planet Elementia?” Anakin asked. Yoda seemed to stiffen up at this, as if remembering a terrible memory. Slowly, he raised his hand at the holocron, and it glowed again. This time, instead of a miniature sun, a large hologram popped out of the holocron, almost as if they were watching the Holonet. 

* * *

_Explosions shook the earth as an unholy screech filled the air. Soldiers wearing Mandalorian armor flew away from the explosions as they fired at something in the distance._

_Two men stood side to side as they panted, their white, traditional looking attire dirtied from battle. They looked like they were human, save for their abnormally pale skin, and their equally abnormal horns and eyes. One of them had strange, purple eyes, with rippling black lines in them, with a third, red eye in the center of his forehead, just above where his eyebrows should’ve been._

_His brother, who looked a little younger due to the lack of wrinkles in his face, looked very identical to his twin, save for his eyes. Instead of the same third eye and the same two purple ones, his were milky eye. Despite this, even the younglings knew that he was not blind, and that he was perfectly capable of seeing the destruction around them._

_“Brother,” The milky-eyed one looked around at the destruction. Villages, mountains, forests, they were all destroyed in their battle between some terrible enemy. “I grow weary of this battle, and every day, I grow less confident that we can win.”_

_“Faith in ourselves, we must have.” A very young looking Yoda ran up to them from behind, his green lightsaber ignited. “Leave this planet, that woman must not.”_

_Behind Yoda was what looked to be soldiers in white armor, as well as various other Jedi. Many were tending to their wounded, or comforting the dying, uttering prayers and other words of comfort._

_CRUNCH._

_Yoda turned around, and saw a Mandalorian fly down to greet the Jedi. Covered head to toe in Beskar armor, Yoda could feel the red and black armor’s pride and history from where he stood._

_“I see that you haven’t lost hope yet.” The man grinned from under his helmet. Behind him, more Mandalorians in similarly colored armor landed near him, all armed with blasters, rockets, and various other weapons._

_“You know, it’s funny.” A man wearing a dark robe stepped up to the group, wiping away remnants of what looked like white flesh. “I never would’ve imagined that we’d find ourselves on this crossroad to our shared goal of defeating this madwoman, Jedi.”_

It was Darth Revan. Even from the holocron, everyone could feel his strong affinity to the Dark Side. 

The sound of more igniting lightsabers erupted from behind him, and everyone realized that behind the Master of the dark side was more Sith. However, this time, they weren’t here to destroy the Jedi. No, they were there to aid them in this shared quest to stop whomever this “madwoman” was. 

_“Agree with you, I do.” Yoda said, sounding quite weary as he stared at the giant dust cloud miles away from them - or rather, the behemoth that was coming out of it._

The younglings, knights, and masters gasped in unison as they saw the giant beast step out of the cloud of dust. 

_This monster was LARGE. Larger than any ship they could imagine. No, this monster was easily the size of 10 ships combined. It’s singular, red eye glowed in the dark night, glaring at the opposing army that dared to stand in its way. It’s large, sharp teeth looked like the size of a small cruiser, and looked sharp enough to shred one to pieces. It’s titanic, spiky head eclipsed the moon, which, much to the horror of the audience, looked quite shattered. Sprouting from its back resembled a large conch shell with many deadly spikes. To finish off its looming, powerful look, ten large tails that stretched for miles waved mockingly at them from behind its back, looking like it could decimate mountains with a single, lazy swing._

_Emerged from the monster’s head was a pale woman, who looked awfully like the two brothers. She had long, sweeping white hair that almost matched her skin, with two horns that protruded from her skull, giving her a rabbit-like look. Her two, milky eyes, which glared at her opponents, greatly resembled the ones belonging to one of the brother, but unlike that brother, she had a third eye that greatly resembled the other brother’s third one. Much like her sons, she wore a high-collared kimono, with tomoes running down the center and the edges of her gown, finished off with intricate gold and purple lines._

_“So that’s Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.” Raven said, watching the woman who was in control of the Ten-Tailed beast. “So she consumed the so-called ‘Chakra fruit’ that was touched by the Force…and now she wishes to leave this planet.”_

_“Happen, we cannot allow.” Yoda stated, giving a rather dark glare at the woman._

_“I couldn’t agree more.” The leader of Mandalore growled as he pulled out what looked to be a lightsaber hilt. Activating the weapon, it made a high-pitched sound as the flat, black plasma blade ignited. This was the Darksaber, a prideful weapon created by the current Mand’alor, which was also the leader of this clan._

_He turned to his warriors, raising his blade in the air. “For Mandalore!” He activated his jetpack as he flew into battle, with all of his followers charging as well with a roar, attacking the beast from the air._

_By his command, Mandalorian, Republic, and Sith ships flew in, firing at the strange, plant like men on the ground, as well as the behemoth itself._

_“Mandalorians...” Raven ignited his red lightsaber with a chuckle. “No wonder Kato’s clan is one of the fiercest and most respected clans of the galaxy.”_

_“Strong he is, no doubt. Reckless he is as well.” Yoda smirked._

_“Enough talk, we must end this before she’s gained enough power to execute that insane plan of hers.” Revan said, before turning to his followers. “Charge!”_

_A roar of determination sent a shockwave of the dark side through the battlefield, sending a boost of morale amongst the allies as the sith lords and apprentices charges against the monster and the plant-like minions._

_Revan turned to the small Jedi and nodded, before sprinting towards the beast as well, leaving Yoda with the other remaining Jedi and soldiers, who were still good to fight._

_“Commander.” One of the Republic troopers with his helmet on walked up to the Jedi. “Are we going in?”_

_“Go now, we shall. Fight, we must.”_

_“You heard him, men!” The Republic trooper turned to his men. “For the Republic!” He took charge as hundreds of remaining soldiers went on the attack as several other Jedi Masters and Knights followed them._

_The Mandalorians, who were still flying in the air, fired their rockets at the beast’s head, while also taking care to avoid the tails that was trying to swat them out of the sky. The unlucky ones were sent flying painfully into the dirt, while the luckier ones lived to fight for a few more minutes. The beast, meanwhile, had to protect its head, else its master would be blown to bits._

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!_

_The ten-tailed beast roared in pain and anger as its hands, which was protecting the rabbit-goddess, was burnt and blown to bits. Hissing, it began to cover itself with its tails as an effort to protect Kaguya._

_Unfazed, the leader of the Mandos landed on one of the tails, slashing it with his Darksaber. Roaring, it moved to crush the pest that dared to stand on its tail._

_“Absorb this.” The leader said, shoving a thermal detonator into the wound, before dropping himself, flying away from the tails as it exploded, successfully severing a part of the tail while critically damaging another._

_Meanwhile on the ground, the sith jumped upwards onto the beast’s arms and using the force to boost his movement and anchor himself to the beast’s skin, he ran on the Tailed Beast’s body before jumping on its back, plunging their blades into the Ten-Tailed beast, hoping to bring damage to it._

_It, however, only served to piss it off, slamming its fists to the ground, causing a small earthquake and making some of those Siths fall off the back of the beast or retreat from it. Some of those who fell down met their demise when the monster slammed his fist into a group of them. It tried to slam another group of Siths, but got the full power of electrocution against its head._

_That came from Revan, who unleashed a wave of Force Lightning from his hand, shocking the beast and Kaguya with enough power to stun them both for the moment._

_The beast quickly recovered from that shock, but those few seconds was all the allies needed, with the giant monstrosity taking a full blast of a few rockets into its face, one nearly hitting its eye._

_That came from the Republic troops, who were firing everything they’ve got onto the monster, hoping it would take them down while the remaining Jedi used the force to try and levitate the wounded Mandalorians and even the Sith to safety and away from the beast._

_It was clear though, that even with the bravery and cooperation of the three different groups, their numbers were dropping fast. They already lost a great of numbers of their own, and they were about to lose a lot more unless an effective action was taken against the beast._

_Realizing this, Yoda ran up to where the two brothers Hagoromo and Hamura had landed after a rather nasty swipe from one of the creature’s tails._

_“Hagoromo, Hamura.”_

_The two brothers turned around and saw the tiny Jedi Knight._

_“Yoda-san, it’s good to see you alive.” Hamura smiled._

_“With luck, I survived. Many did not, my master included.” Yoda stated with sorrow. “Defeat this beast, how do we?”_

_“I am terribly sorry for your loss, Yoda-san.” Hagoromo lowered his head in shame and respect. His moment of silence quickly ended as he turned back to his mother, who had just shot down a Republic ship, sending it crashing into a Sith’s battleship. “There may be only one way to defeat our mother and end her reign of terror, and that would be by sealing her away. There is, however, an unfortunate catch.”_

_“What is it?”_

_“Someone needs to knock her off her trance and distract her long enough for us to get close to her.” Hamura said with a scoff “Only problem is that even if someone got close to her, she’ll show no mercy and strike you down with her Byakugan and hit all your fatal points.”_

_“We will both have to make physical contact with our mother in order to place our seal upon her. However, anybody who gets too close to her will undoubtedly be slain, so she’ll have to be sufficiently distracted or stunned for us to make our move.”_

_A nearby wounded Jedi overheard this, and asked, “By that you mean-”_

_“Whoever serves as the distraction will most likely never make it back alive.” Hagoromo stated grimly. A dark silence then filled the air, save for the sounds of battle and the roars of the demonic creature._

_Just then, two Mandalorians landed behind them, with one of them being wounded and the other helping the other to their feet._

_“And will save the galaxy from grave danger…” The wounded Mandalorian warrior grunted, before slowly standing up by himself. “I’ll do it.”_

_He tried to stand on his own feet, but his injured leg couldn’t support its owner, causing him to stumble. “I’ll distract her.”_

_“No you won’t, Wren.”_

_The two Mandalorians turned around to see their great leader land and walk up to them. “If someone’s going to distract that woman, it’ll be me.” The wielder of the Darksaber pointed his thumb to himself._

_“A-are you sure about this?” Hagoromo asked, not sure whether to be impressed or concerned for his choice._

_“Very.” Kato said grimly, staring at the wounded and the fallen. “I brought my people here to fight. I am their leader, and therefore, every victory, every loss, and every death falls on my hands. As leader of Mandalore, it is my duty to lead the way.”_

_“No, Kato!” The wounded Mandalorian named Wren protested. “I won’t let you die. Let me do it!”_

_“It is alright, brother.” Kato placed his hand on the warrior’s shoulder. “I know what I am doing, and I know the risk. However, if it means that I can give those two a chance to stop their mother’s reign of terror, then so be it. Besides, you cannot sacrifice yourself. Your wife will be having your child soon.”_

_“She can take care-”_

_“And leave the baby without a father?” Kato asked his friend, getting no answer in response. “Your child needs to be raised by a father who will give him love. Give them the experience you didn’t have.”_

_The leader of Clan Wren’s hands clenched into fists as he looked down. Whether it was in reluctant acceptance or shame, he will never know._

_Kato then turned to the other clan leader. “Kryze, I trust that you’ll look after Mandalore in my place, should something happen to my clan.”_

_“Of course, sir.” Kryze nodded, promising his brother in arms, who he had fought alongside with in so many battles against Mandalore’s enemies._

_“Good.” The leader of Mandalore smiled, before taking a deep breath. He turned towards Kaguya, who had just shot down a Mandalorian warrior, before activating his jetpack._

_“Remember,” He turned to face his people one last time. “This is the way.”_

_Then he flew off, determined to fight one last battle._

_“Farewell, brother.” The leaders of Clan Wren and Kryze said, words that’ll never reach their leader._

_Like a shooting star in the sky, everyone stopped to gaze in wonder as a single man, a single warrior, charged bravely at the goddess. Like any others, Yoda watched as Kato set his jetpack to maximum speed, flying directly towards the body of the Ten-Tails._

_“Well, what are you waiting for?!” The leader of Clan Wren finally barked out. “Are you just gonna let him do all the work? Concentrate all fire on the abomination!”_

_Snapped out of their stupor, everyone roared in detemation as they doubled their efforts to stop the woman, this time, however, with the goal to defend the leader of Mandalore._

_Kaguya, who was previously stunned at the man’s bravery, immediately began to try to swat him out of the sky, only to be bombarded on all sides by blaster-fire, plasma cannons, and lightsabers as everyone gave it their all to give Kato an opening._

_Kaguya, who had a stoic face all this time, was now in shock, throwing everything she had at the flying warrior in front of her._

_“Fool. You shall not end me!” Kaguya roared as the veins around her eyes bulged out. “EIGHTY GODS VACUUM ATTACK!” She summoned a barrage of fists at the Mandalorian to try to take down this annoying pest._

_Much to her shock, the Mandalorian, who was very skilled with a jetpack, effortlessly dodged her attacks, and was still growing much closer to her second by second. Taking out his darksaber, he ignited it, the high-pitched noise making her eyes widened even further._

_“Open wide!” He roared as he fired his flamethrower from his wrist, forcing her to block her face with her arms. He then slashed downwards at the woman._

_CRUNCH!_

_The small sound, which was somehow heard from across the raging battlefield, was enough to stop everyone in their tracks. When the smoke and fire cleared out, it showed Kato...with an arm pierced through his chest._

_Kaguya, who had a triumphant smirk on her face despite the massive burns she just suffered from, had her arm through the Mandalorian’s chest, piercing through his armor and his organs._

_Coughing out blood, Kato dropped his Darksaber, the weapon deactivating as it fell out of his reach. Seeing this just widened Kaguya’s impossibly wide grin even further._

  
_“Your bravery is noted.” Kaguya leaned in close to his helmet, which never attempted to look away from her. “However, did you really think a mere mortal like you can ever kill me?”_

_“Maybe not.” The warrior coughed from under his helmet. “That’s why that wasn’t part of the plan.”_

_The woman looked confused at this, until he pulled out a metal cylinder. Lifting his thumb off of the button, he tossed it upwards into her face._

_BANG!!_

_The explosion was loud, ear piercing, and blinding. The flash bang did its work as Kaguya howled in pain as all three of her eyes shut tight. Flinging the Mandalorian off of her arm, she covered her ears as she shrieked, curling up into a ball in agony._

_“Now brother!”_

_The woman opened her eyes when she felt two persons by her sides. It was obvious that while she was still blinded, she knew exactly who the two people were, and weakly lifted her arms to try to stop them, but it was too late. The two sons planted their palms at her sides, a grim look on their face._

_“SIX PATHS - CHIBAKU TENSEI!”_

_The minute the two brothers shouted those words, the Ten-Tailed beast was suddenly disconnected from her. Their mother’s eyes widened in shock, fury, and then sadness as she began to float upwards._

_Suddenly, the earth began to rise up from down below towards her. Rocks and large chunks of the earth flew up as they surrounded the woman, imprisoning her in the large sphere._

_It was as if a 100 Jedi was using the Force to entomb the rabbit-goddess with the earth, creating a new moon._

_Everyone, from the Sith, the Jedi, and the Mandalorians, all stared at the new moon being created to replace the broken one in the sky. After what seemed like forever, they all began to cheer._

_The battle was over. The galaxy was safe-for now._

* * *

The recording ended, leaving everybody in the room astonished with what they had just witnessed as the young days of Grand Master Yoda when he was a Jedi knight. Many of the younger members of the Order began to murmur:

“Wow…”

“That monster...it felt just like-”

“Yeah, can’t get those shivers from my back.”

The Jedi Masters like Windu, Shaak Ti and Rancisis were wondering why the wisest member of the Jedi Order held such a shocking fact of history.

“Many Jedi, gone with the Force, they had that day.” Yoda grimaced, not trying to think about the slaughter. “Padawans, Knights, Masters. All died, with few survived.” He thought also of those troops, Mandalorians, and even a few of the Sith who were willing to help. “Many brave men and women, gone they now are. Hurts me, it still does.”

Everyone could feel the pain coming from the eldest master, with many wishing to comfort him for his loss. 

“What all of you felt, ‘The Ripple’, as you call it, is quite different than the Dark Side. Important to understand it, it is. Find it first, we must, else the creature may fall into the wrong hands.”

“Hold on, Master.” Anakin suddenly interrupted, causing a few of the younglings to gasp at his audacity. “You said that the Sith will be looking for it. Yet, you fought alongside some Sith Lords to fight it. Why would it be any different now?” 

This made all of the Jedi to fall into a sea of murmurs again, loudly discussing Anakin’s point. 

Windu didn’t look too pleased at Anakin’s question. 

“Skywalker…” 

“Enough, Master Windu.” Yoda said, calming the hardened Jedi Master down as he turned to the young Skywalker. “Reason for my concern, young Skywalker, is because the old Sith, Revan, Talon, and Bane, knew of the risks the Ten-Tailed possessed, they did, as well as its master, Kaguya. The new Sith, however, care not, or know not, of the risks involved.” 

“But why was Bane there? He died like three thousand years ago!” Anakin pointed out, knowing for a fact that Darth Bane was in the times of the Old Republic, long before Yoda was even born.

“Some things in the Force, even I yet to discover, I have.” Yoda answered to him, gaining more confused reactions from the Jedi.

Obi Wan, who was beginning to understand the gravity of the situation, looked at the space between the Omega Sector and the Coruscant Sector. 

“So you say this map leads us towards that ripple we just felt?” 

“Yes.” Yoda nodded grimly. “This map I held, for six hundred years I have.” 

Yoda waved his hand again, and the map shrank back into the holocron. 

“Danger to the galaxy, there will be, should that woman ever return.” 

The idea of that creature storming towards the Jedi Temple made many in the room shiver in fear. 

“What do you suggest we do with this, Master?” 

“Bring this to the Senate, we must.” Yoda said, stunning everyone in the room by his proposition. “Contact this planet, we must.”

“But Master,” Shaak Ti, who had been mostly silent up to this point, couldn’t help but ask, “Why would you want to reveal the location to the public? Wouldn’t this only double the risk of the Sith trying to get their hands on this beast?” 

“Because, it split into nine, it has.”

_‘Split into nine?’_ Everyone in the room thought. _‘What does he mean by this?’_

“After the creature’s defeat, split the energy of the beast, Hagoromo did. Nine creatures, he created. All of them, own power and will, they have. The weakest having one tail, nine with the strongest.” 

“What creatures are we talking about?” Plo Koon asked. In response, Yoda waved his hand at the holocron again, and it was replaced with a simple image. The first image shown was a picture of a one-tailed tan colored animal, with dark blue markings all over its body. 

“The first is the one-tailed racoon-dog, so I was told. Manipulate sand, it can. Shukaku, his name is.” 

“A sand creature.” Obi Wan glanced at Anakin. “Well Anakin, if we need to fight it, perhaps your expertise can be useful for this one.” This gained some laughs from some of the Jedi in response to his joke. 

Anakin simply grunted in return, looking away with a slight look of irritation. 

Yoda (with a slight grin on his face from the banter) waved his hand in a swiping motion, and the image shifted to the two-tailed beast. This one was radically darker than the one-tailed beast, with its fiery “fur” being dark blue and black in color. Its eyes were heterochromatic, with the right being yellow and the left being green. 

This particular one caught the fascination of some of the younger Jedi, with some even finding it pretty. 

“Her name, Matatabi, it is.” Yoda said, gaining some cheerful comments from the female younglings.

“It’s a her!”

“She’s pretty!” They squealed, before getting hushed by the nearest Jedi Master.

Yoda couldn’t help but chuckle. “Pretty she looks, yes. But do not be deceived, younglings. Ability to use fire, she has. Deadly, her claws are.”

This got some of the girls to giggle as they looked at their male classmates, who often teased them about their “obsession” over their nails.

The next picture was that of a creature that looked a lot less pretty, but looked to be much more durable in battle. It looked to be an aquatic, three-tailed creature, as evident by its crustacean-like shell, and unlike its two-tailed sister, it looked much more fearsome with its rough, spiky shell and its glowing red eye. 

“This is Isobu, the beast of the sea. Grumpy, it looks, but very kind, it actually is. Deep in the seas, it usually resides.” 

“Certainly not a creature to mess with, especially in the waters. Wouldn’t you agree, Master Fisto?” Plo Koon asked to his Nautolan friend, Kit Fisto. 

“Sure looks like a rough one alright.” The other Jedi Master agreed. “I’m pretty sure even our lightsabers would have trouble with that kind of shell.” 

The image of the four-tailed beast then came up. This primate-looking creature had bright red fur, with elongated fangs protruding from its mouth and two long horns curving upwards like a crown. With its yellow eyes, which uncomfortably reminded some of the Sith, this one also looked to be a ferocious creature to meet in battle. 

“A prideful creature, this one is.” Yoda explained. “Son Gokū, it likes to be called.” 

“That’s one big angry looking creature.” Shaak Ti pointed out, looking at the expression of the Four-Tailed Monkey.

Yoda nodded, before moving on to the next image. This image showed the Five-Tailed beast, whose peculiar appearance made it difficult to decipher what animal it was based off of, with the only obvious details being its mostly white skin, five tails, four legs, and its long horns. 

“Kokuō, his name is. Mixture of a horse and dolphin, told me he was.” 

“Dolphin and horse?” Anakin asked with a raised eyebrow. “Are those animals from the Omega Sector?”

“Let’s just move on, please, Master.” Obi Wan asked. The image quickly shifted to another hologram that showed a white, slimy, dripping blob monster that made some of the younglings cringe in disgust.” 

“EEEEWWW!” Some of them cried out. 

“Saiken, this one is called.” Yoda pointed out. “Six Tails, he is. Slug, his animal is. Gas and liquid attacks, his speciality is.”

“I don’t want to imagine what you’re meaning by that.” Piell crossed his arms, thinking about this particular tailed-beast. While it’s true that this one didn’t look like much-hell, it looks like a couple of lazy blaster shots would easily take out this thing-the idea of it using gas and liquids for its attacks made it seem more dangerous than its appearance suggests.

The next image was very underwhelming, to say the least, with the hologram showing what appeared to be a seven-tailed tiny beetle. Looking harmless and quite cute (to some), it looked like it posed less of a threat than the six-tailed slug. 

“Chōmei, his name is. Cheerful, this one is.” 

“He doesn’t look too bad.” Anakin commented, to which Yoda shook his head. 

“Many years ago, this was, when they were born. How much they have changed, is the question.” Yoda said sagely. 

“Gyūki, next is.” Yoda resumed as he turned to the next hologram. This one looked to be a mix of an octopus and a sheep, with large eight-tails behind its back. Oddly enough, it’s most notable feature was its pure, white eyes, with no irises whatsoever. 

“Another aquatic beast, this one is. One of the strongest of the group, he is.” 

Rancisis, wishing to wrap this up, asked, “And whatsss the last Tailed Beast?” 

Yoda nodded, before turning to the last image. The last one showed a picture of what was arguably the cutest one of them all. Sitting on the ground was the picture of what appeared to be an orange, baby fox with nine tails. 

“AWWW!” Many of the younglings cried out. 

Yoda couldn’t help but smile at this. 

“The Nine-Tailed Fox, this is.” Yoda explained. “Kurama, his name is. Most powerful, it may be.”

Yoda’s face then turned grim, and everyone knew that bad news was coming. 

“The ‘Ripple’, as you call it, came from Kurama.” Yoda closed his eyes in distress. “Anger, I felt, coming from this old friend. Changed, my friend did. What has happened, is the question.” 

While the rest of the Jedi were still trying to cope with the fact that giant beasts of the Force were present on an undisclosed planet, Windu, Rancisis, Piell, and Obi Wan looked to one another and to the other Council members. It didn’t take a genius to figure out just why Yoda kept this all a secret to everyone. 

“No doubt that the Sith have felt it.” Yoda stated. “Doom will arrive, if the Sith controls the beasts. Prevent this at all costs, we must.” 

The Grand Master then turned to the other Jedi present in the room. “Inform this to the public, we cannot do. Cause panic, it will. Work in discrete, we must. Protect the galaxy from grave danger, we must.” 

It was then that everyone, even the younglings, knew of the grave danger this rogue element can cause. They knew that this was no laughing matter, and that they must take this secret to the grave, if they must. It was unnecessary to say that this information could never leave the temple, save for the senate. 

Windu was the first to speak after the thoughtful silence. “So you wish to bring this information about this sector and its dangerous history to the senate. That way we can have clearance to travel to this sector in hopes that they’ll join the Republic, especially before the Separatists get to them first.” 

“Accurate, your statement is, Master Windu.” Yoda nodded, closing the holocron as he pocketed the box. “Need to bring this to the senate now, we must. Master Windu and I shall debrief this to the Chancellor.” 

“For now, everyone needs to keep this information to yourself.” Windu instructed everyone. “All who have not been informed yet will be informed, but again, I cannot stress just how dangerous this information can be if leaked to the public. That will be all.” 

At their dismissal, everyone in the room began to return to their activities before they felt The Ripple, leaving the Jedi Masters alone to think about how they will explain to the Senate about this news. 

Yoda, however, was thinking about something much different. 

Yoda was thinking about his time with the two brothers and the war against Kaguya, as well as their goodbyes as he had to leave. He remembered Hagoromo’s last moments, and how he created the tailed beasts. He remembered their brief, yet joyous introduction, and how they were fascinated by the ships, as if they weren’t a miracle of the force by themselves. 

_‘Such innocence, those beasts had.’_ Yoda mused sadly. He then reflected on The Ripple, and even though it has been forever since he has first and last met the Nine-Tailed Fox, he could never forget their signatures in the force. 

_‘Kurama...what has happened while I was gone? Were you trying to me something?’_

* * *

**[Elementia; Konoha Hospital (A Week Later)]**

Tsunade took another swig from her saké bottle, letting out an audible sigh. Shizune, her loyal apprentice, was not too far behind her as they walked down the hospital hallway. 

The staff members, both civilian and shinobi alike, saluted her as she walked by, but she barely acknowledged them, too busy worrying about a particular patient of hers. 

It had not been a good week for the 5th Hokage, although to be fair, it hadn’t been a good week for anyone in Konoha, especially not for the Shinobi teams involved with the latest incident. 

It had been a week since Sasuke Uchiha had tried to defect to Orochimaru, with the help of his goons, The Sound Four. Initially, it was thought that he was kidnapped, and a team was set up by his former classmates to go and rescue him, but the mission quickly evolved into a retrieval one when it was discovered that Sasuke went with them willingly. 

The Sound Four weren’t Orochimaru’s elites for nothing, as the Konoha team learned the hard way. That’s why Tsunade called in the help of the Sand Village as reinforcements, which they were more than happy to accept, as an effort to help make up for the invasion that they participating in against them not too long ago. 

Gaara and his siblings Temari and Kankuro were the only ones the Sand Village sent, but they proved to be enough, quickly helping out the injured Konoha teens. 

However, even with the help of the Sand Village, the mission, while a success, still turned out to be rather disastrous. 

“Shizune, status report.”

“Oh! Um,” Shizune grabbed a folder from her hands, and began reading off of it. “We’ve been monitoring their health for a good seven days, and we’re clear to say that most of them are going for a good and steady recovery. Choji Akamichi has been out of critical condition after day two. Neji Hyuuga is already showing signs of progress, as he just woke up yesterday. Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka were already discharged from the hospital, which just leaves us with the two remaining patients.” 

“What’s his status?” Tsunade asked a little too quickly. 

“Right.” Shizune began reading it off. “After an operation going well, Sasuke Uchiha is-”

“I don’t give a damn about him!” Tsunade snapped, making Shizune flinch in fear.

Tsunade stopped, and took a deep breathe. “I mean, how is _his_ condition?”

Shizune knew exactly who she was talking about. “Oh, Naruto’s…” She had a grim look, and sighed. “Still no change from his current status.” 

Tsunade stopped abruptly, and for a second, she thought that Tsunade was about to have another outburst, until she realized that they had made it to their destination. 

Their destination was located in a special section of the hospital. This particular room was reserved for VIP patients, such as ones like the Hokage, or in this case, the village’s jinchuriki. 

Getting past the guards, who regarded the hokage with a respectful nod, they opened the door, and found a grim sight. A singular bed was in the room, with the unfortunate patient being surrounded by lots of machinery. The machines monitored the patient’s blood levels, breathing patterns, and his heart beats. The said patient was covered in bandages, with tubes stuck into his throat for food, water, and air. 

That patient was Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who would normally hop out of bed in the morning with a happy grin on his whiskered face. Naruto Uzumaki, who was full of energy and determination just a week ago, was now breathing through a mask tube, with his face covered in serious burns and bruises, which was thankfully covered in bandages. 

Despite them being trained shinobi, despite them being experienced medics, it still broke their heart to see their little troublemaker in this critical state. 

“He’s still recovering from his wounds.” Shizune began to explain. “Even with the Kyuubi healing him, his lungs are still in critical condition, due to the two Chidori attacks Sasuke inflicted on him.” 

The dark look on Tsunade’s face almost discouraged her from continuing, but the hokage gave her a nod to continue. 

“Upon arrival, we immediately operated on him for almost nine hours, compared to Sasuke’s surgery, which only took three. He flatlined twice, but we were able to bring him back quickly, thank kami. But that’s not the concerning part.” 

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at that. 

“Naruto almost died twice so far, and _that’s_ not the concerning part?” 

Shizune cleared her throat. 

“Correction, that’s the second most concerning part, aside from that. Anyways, what’s concerning us is that according to our calculations, Naruto should’ve woken up by now. The problem is that he’s still in a coma, which he shouldn’t have been in in the first place.” 

“...Explain.” 

“Well, we know that it wasn’t our drugs that did it. Believe me when I say that we thought about putting him into a medically induced coma, but we made good progress on him by the time that thought crossed our minds, and not to mention his incredible healing factor did 25% of the work for us, so we aborted that idea. We also know that it wasn’t the Kyuubi’s chakra either, since we scanned his brain cells for any chakra contamination.” 

“So what did cause his coma?” Tsunade asked, now more concerned than angry. 

“Well, the thing is that we’re not entirely sure. But, we suspect that it could be extreme mental fatigue - which, I suppose makes sense, due to everything he just went through.” 

“Mental fatigue? That’s new.” 

“Like I said,” Shizune scratched her head, obviously still baffled by their “explanation.” “Not entirely sure. It’s just a theory we’re going by.” 

“When will he wake up?” Tsunade asked, not sure if she’ll get a definite answer. 

“Well, we believe that he should be awake within another week or so.” Shizune said with a small smile. “Again, just going off of calculations, but you know Naruto. He’ll surprise us the next day or something by getting up early in the morning!” 

“That’s good to know.” Tsunade gave her a small smile, which felt like a victory for Shizune. That moment of smiles was abruptly ended when Tsunade asked her for Sasuke’s condition.

“Well, he’s certainly responsive and awake by now.” Shizune said gingerly, knowing that just talking about the Uchiha could be enough to set her off. “He’s been eating lately and been trying to walk, but aside from that, he’s still avoiding any social interactions, and has been uncooperative so far with basic conversations.” 

“Sounds like him alright.” Tsunade scoffed while staring at Naruto with a frown. “He’s lucky the only thing I’ve done to him was have Kakashi seal off his chakra for his actions.” 

“Still, there are people asking for what happened precisely at the Valley of the End.” Shizune mentioned. “People are wondering what could’ve happened to Naruto back there that caused him to fall into a coma, since Sasuke isn’t speaking to anyone about it.” 

“Did he receive any visits? Letters?”

Shizune nodded with a smile. “Kakashi and Sakura makes it a habit to stop by at times, and recently, the other members of the Retrieval team are beginning to visit him as well. Shikamaru and Kiba have already visited him a few times, and so did their teams and masters. But that Hyuuga girl - Hinata, I think that’s her name, - has especially been visiting everyday. We even got a get-well letter from the Sand Village support team. Then there’s the Ichiraku family and his former instructor Iruka.” 

It warmed Tsunade’s heart to see that there were many people who cared about the young boy’s condition. It didn’t help that she was one of the many people that was secretly hoping that he and that Hinata girl would get together, and would finally forget about the pink-haired girl. Her eyes then fell onto the necklace around Naruto’s neck, and flinched, wondering if his condition was a sign of bad luck or a sign of good luck. 

“Let’s leave the gaki to rest. If he wakes up, I’ll personally give him a bowl of ramen.” 

Shizune couldn’t help but smile. “I think he’ll like that, my lady.” 

Both women eventually turned to leave, leaving the boy alone to rest. With the lights left on, the only sound present in the room was the monitors and the beeps, proof that the young boy was still alive. 

* * *

**[Space - (Approaching Elementia)]**

Unbeknownst to the Elemental Nations, the planet of Elementia was finally going to have visitors from outer space for the first time since many years ago. 

A large, Consular-class Cruiser suddenly shot out of hyperspace, the large ship slowly approaching the blue and green planet below the spacecraft. 

“We’ve reached our coordinates, sir.” The pilot of the Republic Navy said to the head of security of this delegation, Gregar Typho, a captain of the Royal Naboo Security Forces and bodyguard of senator Amidala. 

He was now responsible for the security of the diplomatic mission to this new world that was supposed to be filled with different nations-states. 

“Okay, be ready to enter the surface. We’re going to land.” Typho ordered as the Jedi plus the Senators walked in the bridge.

“We’re here.” Anakin noted, staring at the beautiful planet up ahead. 

“It reminds me of Naboo.” Senator Padme Amidalla couldn’t help but admire the planet, which had just the right amount of blue and green from outer space. 

“Abundant in nature, the planet is.” Yoda agreed. “Still is, glad to know.” 

“Well, let’s just hope that the natives are friendly.” C-3P0, Anakin’s protocol droid, commented nervously. “From what I’ve heard from Master Yoda, the odds of them reacting negatively to our arrival are 80% to-” 

“Relax, C-3P0.” Anakin interrupted him. “It’s not like we’ve come completely unprepared. Worst case scenario, we’ll have to shoot and cut our way out of a fight if we have to. The venator will stay above us to reinforce our escape if we have to.” 

“I hope I don’t have to remind you that this is a diplomatic mission.” Obi Wan said, stroking his beard. “So please allow the Senator to do the talking.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Anakin waved him off, much to his annoyance.

Despite the light hearted banter, everyone, the Jedi included, were pretty tense. Unlike many other worlds out there, this one was a complete anomaly. If the other citizens of this planet had the same or similar powers to the Sage Hagoromo… 

Then the potential war between them could end up in a bloodbath for both sides.


	2. C2 - "After All These Years"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN from Lucius: About the Timeline, and Darker Story Tone.
> 
> The timeline won’t be accurate, which should be obvious, due to Sabine being part of the story. While yes, we will attempt to not jumble up the timelines too much, we’ll have to mix up a few things here and there. 
> 
> I hope that answer’s everyone’s questions. That being said, this story will be significantly darker, and will have trigger warnings at times. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy! 

* * *

**[The Prison of the Nine-Tails]**

Officially known to a select few, inside of the boy named Naruto Uzumaki was a tailed beast. To be more exact, the Nine-Tailed Fox, aka “The Kyuubi”, the same tailed beast that had attacked Konoha only a few years ago, was sealed inside of Naruto. 

The Kyuubi, a creature made of chakra, whose size easily rivaled mountains, whose power can shatter the earth with a single cleave from its tail, was locked into the body and soul of a child. Locked behind the inescapable cage, the tailed beast could do nothing but sleep and observe the world through the boy’s eyes. All because of the damned, late Fourth Hokage, who was known to many as “The Yellow Flash.” 

Since most of what its prison warden does was boring beyond comprehension, all the beast did was sleep for the most part. Right now, however, it was wide awake. That was because just a week ago, the blond brat had another interesting fight, where he needed his power to help him win. What was even more entertaining was the fact that he was fighting an Uchiha, or to be more exact, the last of its kind. 

The Demon Fox smirked, reminiscing about the memory of the fight. Sure, he hated the annoying Uzumaki brat to hell, but he hated the Uchihas even more, and he took utmost pleasure in watching him beat the crap out of him, even if he didn’t exactly walk away unscathed. Sure, the Uchiha brat wasn’t killed, as he secretly hoped for, but he was still dragged back to the village in humiliation, and was no doubt going to be branded a traitor. 

The Kyuubi frowned when his thoughts trailed from the defeated Uchiha to the Uzumaki brat that was containing him. He had to work extra hard to keep his ass alive, due to the two gaping holes in his chest. The worst part was that after his generous decision to keep the boy alive, he wasn’t going to be thanked for it, which felt like another spit to the face he couldn’t retaliate against. 

Now he knew that the kid might be staying in this coma for another week or two, he found no reason to stay awake and just take another deep nap into his slumber.

But that wasn’t what was occupying the fox’s mind. No, it was the strange power that Naruto had just used moments before Sasuke Uchiha had been defeated. 

It was...dark. Dark, potent, and powerful, it wasn’t something that he had felt since...the day he was born. It was a power that was similar to theirs, and yet, it wasn’t a power that they could use themselves. 

Oddly enough, it gave him a sense of nostalgia that he knew was something he could never understand, given how he could remember everything from birth. 

Before Kurama could think on it some more, something else caught his scent. He blinked, and he realized that something - or someone - had just entered this planet. 

His eyes widened as he realized that he had felt and smelt this presence before. This scent, this aura, this power...he had felt it before. It was when they were born. It was when they saw the strange men retreat into the Heavens, sailing beyond the stars in their metal ships, with powers that rivaled theirs. 

Kurama sensed a rainbow of auras, some darker than others, and some much brighter than the others. But only one of them stood out in particular. Yes, this aura...it was the one that he had met before. 

**“Yoda...my old friend. Have you returned after all these years?”**

* * *

**[Konoha - Konoha Hospital]**

Jiraiya let out a sigh for what seemed like the millionth time that day. The old Toad Sage was sitting by Naruto’s bed alongside another visitor, who was not human. 

Small, old, and green, it was the eldest summoning toad, who was wearing a brown cape, had gray hair, and had noticeably thick eyebrows, which was also gray from old age. The old toad might not look like much, but he was the one that taught Jiraiya in his younger days as a Shinobi, which is why even Jiraiya held much respect for the old animal. 

His name was Fukasaku, a resident of Mount Myōboku, as well as being one of their strongest warriors. Usually isolating himself from the human world, it certainly came as a surprise for Jiraiya when he actually came to visit him and the boy. 

“So this is your new apprentice, eh, Jiraiya-boy?” The elderly green toad asked as he stared at the comatose blond on the bed. “He sure took quite a beating from that Uchiha kid you told me about.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Jiraiya said plainly, still staring at Naruto’s unresponsive body. According to Tsunade, the boy was possibly near Death’s door, due to the damage he had sustained by the hand of the Uchiha traitor. It was only thanks to Shizune personally leading Naruto’s surgery that the boy was still breathing - for now. 

“You’re angry, Jiraiya-boy.” Fukasaku noticed the Toad Sage’s grim expression. “I can see that.”

“I’m a shinobi.” Jiraiya sighed. “Death is part of our everyday life. We learn how to take lives, how to prevent others from taking them, and ultimately, how to deal with death, regardless of who it happens to. And yet, even after all these years, it still takes me by surprise when a close one is at the bastard’s door. I walked into my village wanting to buy this brat a cup of ramen, only to find out that he nearly died to bring back a traitor, which, for some reason, seems to be more liked than this hero himself.” He ended with a frown, angrily pointing to his injured student. It honestly took everything the old pervert had to not walk into the Uchiha’s room and finish what Itachi started. 

Fukasaku nodded solemnly, understanding the old man’s sorrow very well, before turning back to Naruto. “This boy, you sure that he’s ready to take his training to the next level when he wakes up?” 

“Maybe not.” Jiraiya grunted, standing up to walk over to the blond’s side. “But ready or not, the minute he recovers from his injuries and wakes up, we’ll leave this village to help him train to be ready for the Akatsuki. If my intel is correct, then this will be the right moment to do so.” 

“So how long do you plan on training this boy anyways?” The old toad asked, staring at the breathing machine that helps keep the boy alive. 

“Two years.” Jiraiya said with a determined look. “I want to train him non-stop for two years.” 

Whatever else he was going to say, he held his tongue, seeing the elder toad shake his head. 

“Something wrong, Lord Fukasaku?” 

“Jiraiya-boy.” Fukasaku had a concerned look on his face. “We just found more bad news. There’s something wrong with this boy’s contract.” 

“Wait, what?”

“To put it simply...his contract’s corroded.” Fukasaku said carefully. “We don’t know why, but somehow, his connection to us is just...disrupted. It’s almost as if something evil just stepped in between our bond and poured acid all over it.” 

“Wait wait wait.” Jiraya waved his hands around before speaking. “You’re trying to tell me that Naruto’s contract somehow got broken? How’s that possible?”

“Not broken.” Fukasaku corrected. “Just...corrupted. I don’t know. All I know is that he can’t summon us, and we can’t summon him. The only thing we do know is that our bond can only allow us to know that he’s alive, but that’s it.” 

He turned his head back to Naruto’s still form. 

“Whatever it is, it’s related to whatever happened at that valley.” 

“Come to think of it,” Jiraiya snapped his fingers, remembering something that his friend had previously said. “Tsunade mentioned how Naruto somehow suffered from extreme mental fatigue, which may be the reason to why he’s in a coma in the first place.” 

“Strange, but could be related.” Fukasaku scratched his chin in thought. “Did the Uchiha boy say anything that’ll help us solve this mystery?” 

Jiraiya shook his head. “Damn kid hasn’t said a word ever since he got back here and got his chakra sealed off.” 

“He’s the only one who might know what could’ve happened in that fight that caused Naruto-boy’s current condition.” Fukusaku pointed out. “It’s imperative that we get some answers out of him sooner or later.” 

Just as Jiraiya was going to say something else, the door burst open, revealing a panting Shizune. 

“Outside!” Shizune gasped, trying to take in some air. “Something large! Come quick!” 

“What? Another invasion?!” Jiraiya asked, but Shizune just ran back outside. Taking out a kunai, he followed the young woman outside, hoping for an answer. 

* * *

**[Konoha Shopping District ; A Few Minutes Earlier]**

Life in the Konoha Shopping District was never a dull one, with civilians and shinobi alike always crowding the district, looking to buy or sell something of value. 

Amongst the crowds stood the members of Team 8, Team 10, Team Gai, and Sakura Haruno. With everyone now discharged from the hospital, everyone agreed to visit Naruto at least once a day. 

One of them was carrying a get-well basket, which was stuffed with cards and letters and an unopened cup of beef ramen, which was cleverly hidden underneath some delicious looking fruits. 

“Hiding that cup of ramen underneath the fruits.” Ino smiled at her friend Hinata. “Good thinking. I’m pretty sure Naruto will appreciate it when he wakes up.” 

Hinata did her best to hide the growing blush on her face with the basket. 

“I just thought that when he wakes up, he might want to eat something else than what the hospital offers.” She tried not to stutter with some success, which she felt was a victory on her part. 

Everyone else couldn’t help but smile at Hinata’s good nature, as well as her obvious crush on the blond goofball, and for the fact that out of every one of them, she visited his room everyday almost religiously. 

“CRUNCH!” 

The moment was ruined by the sound of someone chewing on something rather loudly. They all turned to the source of the noise, and deadpanned at the sight of Choji eating his bag of barbecue potato chips. 

“Hmm, so tasty…” He moaned in delight. 

Ino turned back to her teammate with a tick mark on her forehead. 

“Damn it, Choji! The Hokage told you to not eat that crap for another week!” 

Chouji pouted at his blonde teammate. “Oh come on, Ino.”

“Chouji…” 

“Man, what a drag. Let it go, Ino.” This time it was Shikamaru spoke, the only member of the group who’s a full fledged Chunin, as evident by his jacket. “It’s not like we’re trying to stop Naruto from eating healthy.”

“I do have to agree with the Yamanaka for once.” Neji joined the conversation. “I also agree that it might not be the best idea to bring unhealthy food to someone who hasn’t even woken up from his coma yet.” 

“Come on Neji, give them a break.” Tenten, the weapon specialist of Team Gai, waved her hands. “You know what Lady Tsunade has told us: He’ll wake up the next week or so, so that’s no problem. Besides, there’s a mini fridge in there so we can just put the ramen cup in there for the time being.” 

Tenten was one of the many people who didn’t pay much attention to the spirited blond, seeing him as just another arrogant teen who had big dreams, but with no skill to back it up. After seeing him beat Neji - NEJI, of all people - in the Chunin Exams, she finally saw the boy for all of his potential, and ever since then, especially after the Retrieval Mission, she had finally decided to stop taking him so lightly, and to start paying more attention to him. 

“YOSH!” Lee cried out (which at this point, failed to surprise them anymore). “I have faith that Naruto’s Flames of Youth will help him awaken him from his coma sooner or later! If not, I shall run around the village 500 times on my hands!” 

This actually got some of them to burst into laughter, with even Neji smirking at his teammate’s antics. After the Retrieval Mission, it would seem that they needed this usual dynamic to help keep their spirits up. 

Sakura giggled at Lee’s declaration. 

“You do you, Lee.” 

This got everyone to laugh and grin even harder at Lee’s positivity, with even Lee himself smiling at their reaction. 

Well, all except for Kiba, who was unusually silent in his thoughts, which was not unnoticed by his teammate, Shino Aburame. 

“You’ve been awfully quiet, Kiba.” Shino mentioned, which shut up the group effectively. “Just speak out your mind if you need to.” 

“... I still can’t believe that bastard Sasuke tried to turn traitor.” Kiba finally blurted it out, causing the others to stop and turn around after hearing this. Kiba sucked in some air between his teeth, and seeing as how he finally said what needed to be said, he decided to continue. 

“Look, I’ve been pissed off about some crap some of the civilians are saying.” Kiba growled. “They’ve been spreading some nasty rumors, you know?” 

“...Yeah, I hear you.” Shikamaru began to unleash his inner thoughts as well. “Pretty messed up how people turn on you…” 

While trying to lose himself in his own thoughts, he couldn’t help but overhear some very foolish statements coming from some of the villagers, who obviously held unwarranted animosity towards the blond. 

Don’t get him wrong, he knew exactly why they hated the blond from birth. Shikamaru, who held a very high IQ level, was one of the few people who quickly deduced just why Naruto was so hated. He was also wise and smart enough to not talk about it, else he would be punished under the law of the late Third Hokage. His suspicions were only confirmed after the Chuunin Exam, when Naruto used _that_ chakra in his match against Neji. 

Admittedly, it did frighten Shikamaru quite a bit, but if Hinata could still love him, especially for who he was, then he trusted her judgement. 

“Some of them,” Kiba continued, his teeth grinding from frustration, “have the balls to deny that the bastard was going to defect to the Third Hokage’s killer, while Naruto’s still breathing through a tube because his lungs were destroyed from that same bastard.” 

This got many nods of agreement, especially from Neji and Choji, who weren’t very happy at the way their critically injured comrade was treated. 

The whole story hadn’t come out yet, but the people were already beginning to cook up lies and theories, which quickly evolved into spread rumors. The most popular one happened to be where Sasuke was a victim of some sorts, with Naruto somehow being responsible for the “kidnapping.” 

“I must say, Kiba,” Shino began to throw his word in, “this is the first time you’ve been very outspoken for Naruto, given how you both weren’t very good acquaintances.” 

“Hey, I’ll admit that Naruto and I might not be on good terms, but you know what? He convinced me otherwise.” 

Seeing the stunned reactions from the others, Kiba decided to elaborate. 

“Sure, he beat me in the Chunin Exams, sure, he’s still a goofball and a loud mouth, but he’s someone you can at least trust when shit goes down.” 

Everyone who was a part of the Retrieval Mission wholeheartedly agreed. When it came down to it, he was capable of being serious, and he was capable of holding his own and helping out out his comrades. Arguably, this was what really earned him their respect, and this is why they finally accepted him as a valuable comrade of Konoha. 

Sakura bit her lip. She couldn’t bring herself to mention the conversation she remembered having with Sasuke before, on how he talked about why Naruto wasn’t truly moping about having no parents, and why he was still being positive after she made a rather insensitive comment about wishing to not have parents. From what she knew, Naruto was the only one who was orphaned at a very young age without even knowing who his parents were. 

Similarly, both Tenten and Lee lost their parents on the day of the Kyuubi attack, but Lee was taken under Gai’s wing as his mentor - and later on, a father-like figure, - while Tenten was adopted by her godparents. 

Then there was Sasuke, who lost his entire family right in front of him by his own brother while they were just in their Academy days. He never did accept anyone’s offer to adopt him, choosing to remain alone in the Uchiha Compound, perhaps as a way to remember and honor them while he trained and lived there. 

While he never did have another parent-like figure ever again, he was adored by the village, with everyone always smiling at him, trying to cheer him up, and thanking him (and thus, his late-family) for their services as Konoha’s ex-police force. Hell, he was also often given special treatment in the Academy, offering special tutoring and such, to which he happily accepted, hoping to quickly grow stronger to avenge his family. 

When you looked at the facts, Naruto’s life was the polar opposite of Sasuke’s, which was funny in a way, considering how both of them turned out. 

Shikamaru, out of everyone in the group, knew these facts, and the more he thought about it, the more he was surprised that Naruto didn’t just up and leave the village a long time ago. Getting the piss-poor treatment he did up to this day, any sane man or woman would’ve just given up on the village and would’ve left in the middle of the night in a very Sasuke-like style. 

But Naruto didn’t. Instead of leaving much like how Sasuke had done, he had chosen to stay, for one reason or another. Looking back, perhaps the small interactions he and Choji had with the blond helped him stay rooted here. The fact that the Third Hokage and Iruka themselves paid some attention to him, even giving him a home, probably helped him keep treason out of his mind. 

Shikamaru then imaged an alternate universe, where much like Gaara, he was treated much worse, with even the Hokage shunning his own citizen. He imaged an alternate universe where even he and Choji bullied him and shunned him from the group. He shuddered when he thought about the Kyuubi attack that happened when he was very young, and wondered if a repeat of that might’ve happened had Naruto reached his breaking point all those years ago. 

His thoughts were interrupted when a large shadow passed over them. Noting how dark it suddenly became, he knew that this was no mere cloud. 

“Huh?” Shikamaru and the others looked up, and what they saw caused their eyes to widen and their jaw to drop.

  
  


* * *

**[Konoha - Hokage Building]**

“I want all civilians to be evacuated to the shelters.” Tsunade was barking orders to various shinobi. “Tell the Genin and Chunin to aid in the evacuation. Meanwhile, I want all Jounin to spread the word to all the Clans all over the village to do the same!” 

“Yes ma’am!” All the shinobi flickered away, leaving nothing but dust behind as evidence of their former presence, leaving behind one purple-haired ANBU agent, who was wearing a cat mask. 

“You, go back to the hospital. Protect Naruto with your life if you have to.”

“Yes, Lady Hokage.” The ANBU agent nodded, before flickering away. Just as the ANBU disappeared,Jiraiya opened the door and walked in with Shizune.

“Tsunade.” Jiraiya walked up her. “Have you seen what it-”

“Yes, Jiraiya, I have working eyes.” She said, turning around to the window, staring through it with her old teammate and her apprentice. What they saw was something that they could have never imagined in a million years. 

A large, metal structure was flying directly over the Hidden Leaf, momentarily almost eclipsing the sun with its large, metal body, with its looming shadow cast over the area underneath it.. 

Years of training and discipline helped keep Jiraiya calm as he began to think about their options, as well as how to decipher the situation. 

“What do you think it is, Tsunade?” 

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe it’s a scouting party from the Land of Sky?” Jiraiya suggested, sending a shiver of fear down Tsunade’s spine. 

“I hope not.” Tsunade whispered, clenching her fists tightly. She and her surviving friends remembered all too well the terror the Land of the Sky had imposed on the Elemental Nations. She remembered how the Sky shinobi had rained fire from above, and how she lost so many friends as they could do nothing but dodge and hide from their fury. 

“Its huge…” Shizune whispered, hugging Tonton a little tighter than necessary. 

“What’s the plan, Tsunade? We need to act fast.”

“Wait a moment, let me think.” Tsunade gritted her teeth. 

“Look!” Shizune cried out. 

The two Sannin turned back and saw that the ship was going for the outskirts of the village, to the training fields outside the village.

“The training grounds…” Tsunade muttered, before ordering Jiraiya to prepare every active shinobi they had. 

  
  


* * *

**[Konoha - Third Training Ground]**

The Third Training Ground, which was the field in where many generations of shinobi had trained, was peaceful today. 

The river flowed without disturbance, the winds blew naturally, and the trees were free to grow without the threat of it being destroyed in the process of training. 

Taking advantage of this rare time of peace, a few creatures began to come out from the forest, whether to get a change of atmosphere, to get a bigger room to stretch their limbs, or to simply look for food and resources outside of the dark forest they usually confided themselves in. 

A bird flew out from the forest, looking for fallen twigs and small branches to use to make their nests, which was usually the aftermath of the battles of the elemental giants. 

A squirrel poked its head out from a bush, looking left and right and above and below for any signs of danger, be it natural or unnatural. Seeing no sign of danger, the little critter darted from the safety of the forest, sniffing around for any fallen nuts, which usually happened after the giants had their battles, their inhuman powers tearing up the trees without care. Finding one, it seized the fallen acorn, checking it for any signs of mold. 

It froze in its tracks when it noticed a large shadow forming over its body. Reluctantly abandoning its lucky find, it ran back into the forest, making loud squeaks in terror. 

A large, metal ship landed on the spot where the rodent was just a few seconds ago. The doors for the Consular-Class Cruiser slid open, revealing a group of Naboo security guards and a small group of Jedi. 

Most of the foreigners stopped to admire the nice scenery, enjoying the sight of the blue sky and the crisp, fresh air. Yoda, however, merely frowned, as if seeing something he did not like. 

“Master Yoda, are you alright?” Obi Wan asked the elder master. 

“Returned I have, after so long.” Yoda responded sadly. “Quieter it has been, since that day. Remnants of war in the air, however, I can still feel.” 

“I will say,” Anakin walked up to the two Jedi Masters. “For a so-called warrior planet, they really didn’t seem to notice our ship until we just landed.” 

The young Skywalker was obviously not impressed with this backwater planet, with Obi Wan rolling his eyes at his arrogance. 

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, sir.” Captain Typho looked around nervously. “I’m starting to think that they’re just getting ready for a fight.” 

“Correct you are, Captain Typho.” Yoda nodded, already sensing multiple lifeforms converging towards their location. “Fearful, these natives are. Be cautious, we must be.” 

“This is going to be extremely difficult if we’re going to try and establish solid negotiations.” This came from the senator of Alderaan, Bail Organa who joined in with Amidala on this diplomatic mission “What if they do see us as a hostile force?”

“Negotiations will be extremely difficult if the natives are much more hostile than we hope.” The senator of Alderaan Bail Organa, said nervously. 

He, alongside of every other senator of the Republic, have viewed Yoda’s memory of the recently revealed planet of Elementia, and while it’s obvious at this point that this Kaguya woman is still contained in the planet’s moon, he was more worried about the fact that her son 

Hagoromo had granted the people the power of “chakra.” Throw in the fact that they were in countless wars before the rise of Kaguya, as well as Yoda’s statement about feelings the “remnants of war,” he couldn’t help but wonder if the Naboo security guards would be able to keep them safe. 

“I will have to agree with Senator Organa here, Master Anakin.” C3P0 was the last one to exit the Consular Class Cruiser. “With what Master Yoda has told us, we might be dealing with a very dangerous group of people.” 

“Come on, C-3P0.” Anakin replied smugly. “We have better skills and weapons. If they try anything, then we’ll act in self defense, and we’ll call it a night. Besides, with a Republic Cruiser flow above our heads, how much could they honestly do to us?” 

Obi Wan walked up to his friend, and asked, “Anakin, for once can you think like a Jedi and not like a warrior?” 

“Hey, what the-!” Anakin cried out. 

“What is it, Anaki-” Obi Wan started, but he too quickly realized the new development. 

He discovered that for some inexplicable reason, he was completely paralyzed! Furthermore, it would appear that he wasn’t the only one, as evident by the Naboo guards and the senators struggling to move, only to be rooted firmly to their spot. 

“Shadow Possession Jutsu, complete.” Shikamaru said with a smirk. He looked up towards what he assumed to be the possible invaders. “Who are you, and what are your intentions for this village?” 

Just as he said these words, numerous Leaf shinobi jumped out of the woods, and the Republic troops and delegates was soon surrounded. Jumping behind Shikamaru was his sensei Asuma and Kakashi Hatake. 

“Good work Shikamaru.” Asuma complimented his student. “You’ve bound them without them even noticing it.” 

“Yeah, nicely done, kid. Let’s wait until Lady Hokage arrives.” Kakashi said. He gazed at the strange men and women (and whatever the hell the other guys were), who looked rather confused. He guessed that their confusion derived from the Nara kid’s jutsu, as well as the language barrier, due to the fact that they spoke another language that they weren’t familiar with. 

Just then, one of the foreigners - a woman in fancy clothing - said something in anger, which gained their attention. He wasn’t sure what she had just said, but he guessed it had something to do with Shikamaru. 

… 

“They use children as soldiers?” Senator Amidala yelled in disbelief. She had just looked at the person responsible for their paralysis, and was shocked when it turned out to be a young boy. “That’s just horrible!”

“Now are you in the mood for your method?” Anakin couldn’t help but jab at his master. “It might be helpful now.” 

“Of course with _your_ planning, it’s no surprise it always ends up like this.” Obi Wan playfully shot back as he stared back at the warriors in front of them. As predicted, the natives of Elementia had long forgotten Galactic Basic, which Hagamoro had quickly learned using his “Rinnegan,” as Yoda had explained. Hopefully, they can get C-3P0 to talk to them before a potential war breaks out. 

“C-3P0.” Obi Wan said to the droid. 

“Oh dear!” The golden protocol droid exclaimed, sounding genuinely surprised. “I do believe that this is the very first time that you have ever spoken to me by my name in forever!” 

Obi Wan chuckled at that. 

“Yes, yes, that might be true. Anyways, could you please talk to these natives and tell them that we are here on a diplomatic mission?” 

“Oh.” C-3P0 seemed reluctant to do so, given the number of potential hostiles that were standing in front of them. “Are you certain that is what you want me to do?” 

“Go, and take R2 with you.” Padme said, trying to free herself from the mysterious grip. “They don’t seem to see you as a threat, so you may be our only hope of diplomacy.”

“As you wish, my lady.” C-3PO nodded, before turning to his buddy. “Come, R2.”

The small Astro-droid beeped rather grumpily for some reason as it started moving forwards with the golden droid towards the three shinobi, which left them feeling nervous and quite confused. 

Asuma was visible stunned by the approaching metal beings. 

“Wait, are those...machines?” 

“What a drag…” Shikamaru sighed, although he was secretly interested in them. “Looks like it...but who knows?”

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my life,” Kakashi said with a raised eyebrow, “but this takes the cake.”

“Hello, my name is C-3PO, human cyborg relations,” He introduced himself, before turning to his friend. “And this is my counterbot, R2-D2.” 

The shorter droid wiggled and beeped to greet them. 

The three Shinobi turned to each other silently, confirming C-3P0’s suspicions about their language barrier..

“Oh, I see you don’t understand me. Perhaps my knowledge of your language is severely outdated. Well, I can translate over 6 million languages, and I am built to quickly learn and adapt to all forms of communication, so please just say a sentence, and I can roughly translate it to my master.”

Contrary to the droid’s belief, the three shinobi _could_ understand him. After all, this...machine, was somehow speaking their language. They were, however, too gobsmacked to even utter a single word. 6 million languages? What exactly was this thing, a walking computer?

“Oh my, how can I get you to speak?” C-3P0 wondered out loud. He turned to the astromech to his right. “R2, any suggestions?” 

R2 gave a series of beeps that sounded suspiciously like snickers as he rolled over towards the kneeling Shikamaru, stopping right in front of him.

“Huh?”

A part of R2’s body then opened up, revealing what looked to be a small pipe. Before anyone could even blink, a jet of black oil was squirted into the Nara’s face. 

“Argh!” Shikamaru jumped back and grabs his face, stopping his jutsu.

“Oh no…” Obi Wan muttered, hoping to the Force that the mischievous droid’s actions didn't just started a war. 

“R2, that’s not what I meant!” C-3PO said, worried to death about the potential consequences of his friend’s actions. The protocol droid kicked the R2 unit’s side. “Stupid astromech.”

“Hey!” Shikamaru shouted at the droid, trying to get rid of the oil from his face. “What was that about?!”

“Oh my!” C-3PO exclaimed, raising his hands up. “So your language hasn’t changed after all! You _can_ understand me! ”

“...Yes, we can.” Kakashi confirmed. “Our...apologies for the late reply. As you can see, we’re rather mind blown at the moment.” 

“Quite understandable. Nothing to be ashamed about.” C-3P0 assured them. “Anyways, so now that communications are quite clear, I can finally deliver my message: We are not here intenting for war. Instead, we are here on the behalf of the galactic Republic in order to discuss talks, especially regarding the possibility of open trade, the construction of space ports, as well as a spot in the Republic Senate Chamber.”

“Wait wait wait, a space port?” Asuma asked carefully. “You mean…you all come from space?”

“Well, not necessarily _from_ space, but from our capital planet, Coruscant.” C-3PO answered. “With the Senators from Naboo and Alderaan, as well as a few members of the Jedi Order, we’ve come on an official diplomatic mission in the name of the Republic to establish first contacts between your world and the galaxy.” 

This turned every shinobi pale what they heard from a short distance from the golden droid. 

Kakashi and Asuma turned to look at each other, and realized just how much bigger the situation - and their world - had just gotten. They barely understood half of what was going on, but they did understand one key thing: These strange beings are from beyond the stars, and they were intelligent life, coming on board a vehicle with technology far superior to theirs, with perhaps even weapons far superior to theirs. 

“We need to escort them to the Hokage immediately.” Asuma quickly noted.

“Right.” Kakashi nodded. 

Shikamaru, on the other hand, didn’t seem to give a damn about the whole situation, and was still trying to get the oil off his face.

“Aliens and machines from outer space.” Shikamaru sighed, grimacing at his new jacket’s ruined sleeve. “What a drag.” 

Meanwhile, Master Yoda thought it now was the best moment to explore around so he said to the Senators and Jedi “Go to the leader, you will. Explore I will the village.” He said walking with his cane away towards the village on his own.

… 

While the droids did their talking, the dark shadow that held everyone prisoner was suddenly cut off from their shadows, and the members of the Republic suddenly found themselves able to move. 

“Shall we prepare for combat?” Typho asked. 

Obi Wan quickly shook his head. 

“I don’t believe that’ll be necessary.” Obi Wan said, watching as their droid was finally communicating with the native soldiers. 

The shinobi saw a bearded man approach them and he introduced himself with a slight bow of respect, with C-3P0 making sure to translate each party’s words. 

“Hello, my name is Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Jedi Order.” 

“Kakashi Hatake.” Kakashi introduced himself, before pointing at his friend. “This is Asuma Sarutobi. Your machine said that you’re here on a diplomatic mission?”

“Droid, actually. And yes, those are our intentions.” Obi Wan nodded, trying to ease the tense atmosphere. “Will you please take us to your leader, whoever he or she may be?”

“Our leader’s name is Tsunade. Lady Tsunade.” A voice appeared out of nowhere, making everybody jump in surprise. 

A white haired man wearing sage-like clothing had just appeared out of nowhere. Despite his age, it was clear that he was a strong warrior, perhaps the strongest of the group, as evident by his tear-like red markings on his face, as well as the muscles that could be seen from underneath his clothing. 

“The name’s Jiraiya, and we’ll escort you to her office.” His eyes then gazed at the Naboo Senator, and suddenly his hard eyes turned into ones full of lust. “Together with this fine lady…” 

Padme laughed rather awkwardly at the man. 

“That’s good to know.” Padme smiled politely. “Please lead the way.” 

And with that, they all began to walk to the group, save for a few of the guards who stayed behind to guard their ship. Padme quickly regrouped with the Jedi with Senator Organa, following the Sannin and the other shinobi towards the village. 

Anakin chose to cover the rear, where he was able to shoot glares at the white-haired man safely. 

“That man’s an open pervert.” Anakin growled to his master. “He’s been eyeballing Padme like a piece of meat for a while.” 

“I wouldn’t be so worried if I were you.” Obi Wan replied. “Senator Amidala knows how to deal with these kind of things. After all, she wasn’t a former queen and the current senator for her looks, you know.” 

Obi Wan then raised his eyebrows at the Skywalker. 

“Besides, why _are_ you so invested into the senator’s life?” 

“I’m just concerned for the senator.” Anakin said truthfully. “We don’t know what kind of people we’re dealing with. Who knows, their leader might be a ruthless woman.”

“I suppose your concerns are valid, but do try to worry less, my friend.” Obi Wan warned him. “Or else you may never become a Master.” 

“Yes, master.” They all then walked in silence, save for the occasional light-hearted chatter amongst themselves to try to calm themselves down. 

Despite their attempts to relieve their anxiety, they all couldn’t help but be nervous at the meeting with the village leader. If a warrior, who hadn’t even reached adulthood yet, was able to paralyze the entire group without warning, then just what could their village leader be capable of? 

* * *

**[The Hokage’s Office]**

THUD!

Everyone jumped a little when Tsunade Senju, the blonde-haired leader of the village, slammed down her now empty sake bottle. This honestly took the visitors by surprise, since they were expecting a very strict leader, with an equally harsh, hostile view on them for suddenly entering their village. 

Tsunade looked up at the bodyguards, then Jedi, then the senators, who were sitting in front of her, before reaching down from under her desk. The human guards from Naboo tensed up, their fingers reaching for the trigger, until it turned out that she just pulled out another bottle of sake. Ripping open the cap, she downed it in front of everyone, getting sweatdrops from both the Republic and the shinobi. 

Anakin whispered to his master, “I guess this is her way with coping with the fact that she’s meeting people from outer space.”

“Indeed it is, my friend.” Obi Wan said, while trying to hold back a chuckle. “Granted, she is taking this rather well, I believe, all things considering.” 

Shizune cleared her throat, before she tried to step in. 

“Lady Tsunade, please stop drinking.” She pleaded. “This is not the way to make first contact with people from other world!” 

CRUNCH! 

The empty bottle shattered into a dozen pieces in her hands, making her assistant scurry away from her now-ticked off boss. 

She cracked her knuckles after using a towel to wipe her hands dry, while observing the reactions form the delegation. Noticing that the two so-called sorcerers, who dressed similarly to the spiritual monks in the Fire Temple, didn’t show too much of a reaction towards her. The armored men with strange weapons, for obvious reasons, but it was clear that they were tense and ready for combat if necessary. The machines somehow looked nervous as well, but if she had to be honest, they creeped her out. Especially the golden, humanoid one, with its glowing yellow eyes and it’s blank, unchanging expression. 

She shifted her focus onto the two senators, who were acting as the representatives for this “Galactic Republic” to act on their behalf to try to set up some negotiations. The guy on the right seemed to be slightly intimidated by the show she was giving, and was doing his best to not look uncomfortable. 

The woman to his left - Padme, if she remembered correctly - didn’t seem to be intimidated by her at all, but rather, she was glaring at her as if one would glare at a person they had a grudge against. 

“You got something on your mind, lady?” Tsunade grunted. “If so, speak up.”

C-3P0 quickly translated this to her, and that’s when Padme stomped towards her desk. This caused some of the shinobi to move towards her, and some of her guards to raise their weapons, but Tsunade waved them both off. 

“You use child soldiers.” Padme said, slamming her hands on Tsunade’s desk.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Padme stated, challenging the Sannin. “Forget the fact that you’re intoxicated while we’re here to discuss the future of your village. You seem to not be ashamed at the idea of sending a child into the frontline and potentially risking his life.”

“Senator Amidala,” Bail began, trying to stop this from escalating. “Maybe-”

“Look, missy,” Tsunade shot back to the senator. “What you saw is reality out here - _our_ reality. While your mother was still in some stuck up school or whatever, I was already saving lives on the battlefield when _I_ wasn’t even sixteen yet. This place isn’t such a peaceful planet, which, by the looks of your white knights, you probably already suspected. This place isn’t such a peaceful planet like wherever you came from. So unless you’re trying to start something with me, I don’t want to hear it.” 

The blonde was now leaning over her desk, her face just inches away from the brunette’s, glaring directly into the former queen of Naboo, who wasn’t easily intimidated. 

“Well for your information, I _have_ seen my own people getting killed. I fought alongside my people when my planet Naboo was invaded by the Trade Federation. I fought alongside them to take back my home, and we won. I volunteered with a relief group and helped to relocate the children who had to flee from the Federation, some which died without even been given the chance to live their full life.” 

Taking a second to allow herself to breathe, as well as to allow C-3P0 to do his work as fast as he could, she continued to glare at the female leader, before she continued. 

“I may know what other planets do, such as this one, but that doesn’t mean I won’t speak my mind about it, Lady Hokage.” 

The entire time this exchange went out, the atmosphere grew impossible tense, wondering which lady would strike at each other first, possibility igniting a war that one side will lose. 

After one full minute of ominous silence, Tsunade smirked, making a half smile at the senator. 

“Well, you’ve guts, senator. That, I can respect. I can see it in your eyes from one soldier to another that every word you just said wasn’t bullshit. Looks like you aren’t the stuck-up princess I thought you were.” 

Padme sat back down. “ I assume you’ve lost loved ones?”

“Yeah, I lost some people…” Tsunade laid back on her chair wearily, her eyes lost in thought. She was brought back to those terrible moments, where she watched her brother Nawaki and her lover Dan die in her arms, with all those years of training as a medic seemingly gone to waste in that moment. 

“I’m sorry for your loss, madam.” Padme said in a respectful tone. 

“Don’t sweat it.” Tsunade sighed, and turned back to the delegation. “It's been a long time. All I can do is to just try not to think about it too much. But I understand your concern about the age of our shinobi going into battle. Unfortunately this is the way it’s been going on for centuries, and it doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.”

“If I may join the conversation, I want to ask you a couple of vital questions.” Obi Wan stepped in. “Before we came down here, we’ve done a planetary scan, and we’ve found more settlements like this village across the nation.” 

“You must be talking about the other shinobi villages.” Jiraiya said, answering the Jedi’s question. “There are numerous villages much like ours throughout the nation, which is divided into a few countries. Each country tends to have just one shinobi village.” 

Jiraiya pulled out a map from Tsunade’s desk. Laying it out, he began to describe its contents. 

“For example, our village Konohagakure (or just Leaf, for your sake) lies in the Land of Fire. As you can probably guess from the map, our village is one of the five great ones of the Elemental Nations, with the other four being Suna (Sand), Kiri (Mist), Kumo (Clouds), and Iwa (Rocks). The rest are smaller villages, like Taki (Waterfall), Kusa (Grass), Ame (Rain), and so forth.” 

Poor C-3P0 did his best to keep up. Anakin raised his eyebrows when C-3P0 noted to them the literal translations for the villages.

“Each village is named after what its known for.” Jiraiya shrugged. “Kirigakure, or as your ‘droid’ translated as ‘Village Hidden in the Mists,’ is known to be always surrounded with a thick mist, due to its location being on an island surrounded by the sea. The mist is always so thick that if you tried to make it there on ship, you wouldn’t see the rocks until the damned things sent your ships to the bottom of the sea.” 

Bail cleared his throat, effectively grabbing their attention. 

“Is there any way to contact the other villages?” 

“I wouldn’t try it just yet.” Tsunade shook her head. “Our village isn’t exactly at ease with any of the other current villages right now, especially with the other four main powers.” 

Obi Wan grew more interested into the conversation. “Please explain just how bad the relations are.”

“Well for one, Leaf and Rock haven’t been in good contact with each other for almost over a decade after the Third Great Shinobi War.”

“Third Great Shinobi War?”

“Everyone was involved.” Someone said grimly. Everyone’s eyes turned towards the new speaker, and found that it was the masked man named Kakashi. “The Rock and Leaf were fighting across the eastern lands of Grass, with many casualties on both sides in the process for months. The front was undecided until the battle of Kannabi Bridge, which turned the war in the Leaf’s favor, but that was only one front. On the southwestern fronts, the Leaf was fighting against Mist, or also known at the time as ‘Bloody Mist.’ The casualty rates was almost like the one against Stone.” 

Kakashi’s singular eye seemed to dim as he stared at the map. 

“How many?” This time the one asking the next question was Typho, the Naboo captain who wore the blue armor. He had deduced that Kakashi was a survivor of that war. “How many comrades did you lose in that war?” 

“...My best friend got killed at the Kannabi Bridge.” Kakashi slowly answered. “My other friend died in a battle with the Hidden Mist. Lost my whole team in that war… “ 

Typho nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry to hear that. I really mean it.”

“Much obliged.”

“...Anyways,” Jiraiya reluctantly cut in. “With the Rock Village, it’s most likely that they won’t talk to us, much less you guys. Hell, they’ll probably try to shoot you down the moment they see you guys, using the natural terrain they surround themselves with. The Hidden Mist, on the other hand, is in complete chaos, last I heard.” 

“How so?”

“It’s in the midst of a civil war.” Jiraiya explained. “We don’t know how it began but fighting broke off after a clan tried to rebel against the Mizukage, their village leader, causing him to turn a rampage against all the clans who either got slaughtered or forced to flee. We still don’t know who’s exactly on the winning side, whether it’s the rebels or the Mizukage, so I would wait until speaking with them. Unlike us, they kill outsiders on sight.”

“That’s quite a way to send a message.” Obi Wan said, stroking his beard. This would prove to be difficult in the future for sure. “What about the Hidden Cloud, or ‘Kumo’, as you would call it?”

“They’ve been keeping a very low key profile on their activities for the last ten years.” Tsunade said, shaking her head from the alcohol’s influence. “They keep to themselves, and are trying to stay out from everyone’s problems after the Hyuga incident.”

“Hyuga incident?”

“One of their Shinobi - the ambassador, actually, - tried to kidnap the heiress of the Hyuga clan, which ended in his death and one of the Hyuga members giving up his life to prevent a war.” Tsunade answered. “The Hidden Cloud is what we believe to be the second most powerful shinobi village at the moment.”

Bail Organa couldn’t help but feel more uncomfortable about being on the same planet with these brutes. Their culture and their history of war was reminding him a little too much about Mandalore. 

“And Suna?” 

“Well...maybe not yet.” Jiraiya slowly said. “Long story short, they were our allies until they teamed up with the Hidden Sound for an attempted invasion not that long ago. I mean, we won, and the Sand surrendered, but… “ 

Jiraiya’s face turned grim. 

“They… managed to take out the Third Hokage, as well as many of our own shinobi, before fleeing. But, since we all discovered that the Sand was tricked into the invasion by an...impersonator, the Sand is now asking for renegotiations.”

Jiraiya looked at the map once more, before looking back at the senators. 

“That’s pretty much it for the big villages. The smaller ones are either neutral for the most part, or may be secretly allied with the Sound Village. Either way, it might not be a good idea to approach them for a while.” 

“Duly noted.” Bail Organa nodded, knowing well just how fragile peace can be, and how there was a time and place to approach new life. 

“Wait, something doesn’t add up.” Senator Amidala spoke up, just realizing an important missing detail. “You said that a while ago, the Third Hokage was killed, but if the woman in front of me is the Fifth Hokage, what happened to the Fourth?” 

The air around them suddenly grew tense, and it was at that moment that Padme knew that she had just broken what seemed to be a taboo subject. 

Finally, Jiraiya opened his mouth to answer. 

“The Fourth Hokage died almost fourteen years ago, just months after he helped win the Third Great Shinobi War, and after being recently inaugurated as the Fourth Hokage.” 

He then pointed at a photo across the room. Everyone’s eyes followed his finger, and looked at a portrait of a blonde, handsome man smiling at the audience. 

“His name was Minato Namikaze, also nicknamed ‘The Yellow Flash,’ due to his ability to transport to almost teleport from one position to another in a blink of an eye.” 

Anakin’s curiosity got the better of him as he asked, “How did he die?”

Again, the uncomfortable silence returned, and the security guards tensed up again, seeing the shinobi’s fingers itch for their blades. 

“...We’re sorry, but that information cannot be revealed directly, due to the late Third Hokage’s law that prohibits it.” Shizune finally said, shivering at the tension in the room. 

It didn’t take a force user to notice the feelings of grief, regret, and sadness that filled the room. It also didn’t take a force user like Obi Wan and Anakin to quickly realize that talking about the Fourth Hokage was a literal taboo subject. 

“We’re sorry for bringing it up.” Obi Wan apologized on behalf of his partner, to which the Hokage nodded at him. 

“Anyways,” Organa decided to resume the original conversation before the situation grew more awkward. “Shall we discuss the future of your village and the Republic?”

The normal politics were resumed as the two Jedi sighed, as they had to watch and listen to it.

Anakin then began to wonder about something. “I wonder what Master Yoda is doing.”

“For once my friend, you’ve outthought me.”

* * *

Yūgao Uzuki sighed from behind her mask. The ANBU agent was tasked by the Hokage herself to guard the young boy she used to protect from harm years ago when Naruto was only a small child. 

Together with Kakashi, they were one of the few to willingly stop anybody from harming the young boy from any harm while working in the shadows. Like the one-eyed shinobi, she was one of the very few to know about his heritage. After all, one of his parents used to be her sensei… 

It pained her to see her sensei’s son breathing out of a tube, in a coma where there was that scary chance that he may never wake up. Hearing that he had sustained potentially fatal wounds, her relief came from the news that Shizune was the one leading the operation. Knowing her medical expertise, as well as their mutual fondness for the boy, she knew he was in good hands. 

She stroked Naruto’s whiskered cheek with the back of her hand, and she smiled when his lips twitched into a smile. While she learned a while ago that it wasn’t a sign of him waking up, it was at least comforting to know that he could still smile, and that he could still recognize her presence. 

Watching the boy from his first day in the Academy to his success in the Suna/Oto invasion, Naruto had shown his loyalty and strength every chance he could, even when he had the worst given to him by the village’s civilians, and even from some of its shinobi. 

“Don’t worry, Naruto, you’ve done your job.” Yūgao whispered to the boy. “Your mother would be proud of you.” 

Just as she said those words, the door opened, making Yūgao turn towards the door to see who it was. Her hands immediately shot towards her sword, when two ANBU guards stepped inside. 

“It’s alright, they’re...visitors.” They both said a little too hesitantly. Narrowing her eyes, they traveled to the two strangers. Outfitted with brown and dark colored armor, they held strange, small items in their hands that she could only assume was their weapons. 

“Who the hell are they?” She asked. 

“My bodyguards, they are.” An unfamiliar voice explained from underneath them. Her eyes traveled downward, and her eyebrow shot up at the sight of a small, child-sized green creature wearing what appeared to be monk robes. 

“Yeah, I know.” The ANBU guard nodded in agreement. “A bit much to take in. All would be explained later. Long story short, diplomatic mission, not from here, and they’re friendly.” 

“Alright then… “ Yūgao reluctantly moved her hands away from her weapon, making the guards relax. The short, green man(?) slowly walked towards the blond. 

“What are your intentions with the boy?” Yūgao asked cooly. 

“Just talk, I want to.” The elderly being said. She raised her eyebrow at his strange manner of speech. 

“He’s in a coma, in case you hadn’t noticed.” 

“Not him, I wish to talk to.” He said, making her eyes widen. Before she could think about whether or not to execute him on the spot for knowing the forbidden secret, he placed his three-fingered hand on his stomach, and closed his eyes. 

* * *

**[The Prison]**

Yoda opened his eyes, and found himself to be in what looked like a sewer system. Dark, dank, and ominously quiet, the only sounds that could be heard was the sound of water splashing as he moved around the large tunnels. 

Before he knew it, Yoda had found a large cage in front of it, with the only lock being a large piece of paper on it, with some letters written with the native’s language on it. 

Yoda decided to walk closer to the gate. He thought about trying to enter the cage, but decided against it. 

**“WHO’S THERE?!”** A loud roar echoed the hallway, which made Yoda step back in surprise. 

Large footsteps shook the hallway as something large stepped up to the cage. Yoda looked up, and his jaw dropped at the sheer size of the being that stood in front of him. It was Kurama alright - but he had grown _much_ bigger. 

The Nine-Tailed Fox, who was once only the size of a small house, had grown to the size of mountains. The orange beast, who had once been able to look down at Yoda with ease, loomed over him. Had Yoda been any other person, he would’ve admittedly been afraid. 

The large beast growled from above, the sound which would’ve frightened off an army of krayt dragons. Unable to see the intruder, the giant crouched down to take a better look at him. 

His eyes widened upon recognizing the small man as he choked a little bit.

**“Y-Yoda?”**

“Kurama.” Yoda grew a small smile on his face. “Grown you have.”

“Yoda…”

CRASH! 

Kurama slammed his hand against the ground, almost unbalancing Yoda from where he stood. The large fox growled at his old friend. 

**“You got a lot of nerve to come here after all these years!”** Kurama roared at the Jedi Master with anger that shook the whole area. The water from underneath them ripples from the pure hate and power that radiated from the creature. Still, Yoda remained calm in the face of the beast.

“Angry you are, I can understand.” Yoda said as he fearlessly made a step forward. “Assume your experience, bad it has been?”

**“Bad? BAD?! It’s only _been_** **bad after Hagoromo passed away!”** Kurama hissed, slashing at the seal in anger. **“Ever since his death, I’ve been hunted and hated by humans for the last six centuries! I wasn’t able to see the others because we’ve been hunted by humans, who are after us for our power and want to use us as weapons! I have been sealed inside one human after another for the last hundred years, and now I’m stuck inside this annoying brat who’s barely breathing because he’s a reckless idiot!”** Kurama shouted, unleashing his years of hatred and frustration at the old man. He huffed, glaring at his old friend, who simply stared back in sadness. 

After a few minutes, his eyes finally dimmed down, hatred fading away from them for the moment. 

**“It’s good to see you, Yoda. It's been too long since I’ve seen a familiar face…”**

“That I agree on. But, forgot the lesson, you did.”

**“What are you on about, old man?”** Kurama got off track. **“And how are you even still alive? You must be-”**

“Talk about age, I’d rather not.” Yoda chuckled. “Makes me feel old, it does. But still, forgotten the lessons, you have.” 

Using the Force, Yoda banished the water away from beneath him, and sat down on the cold floor. The Kyuubi decided to have a seat as well, and noted that a ring of dry land remained around the green Force-user, despite the water’s efforts to try to invade that area of dry space. 

“Give this boy, a chance you should.” Yoda looked up at Kurama. “Sign of ignorance, the prejudgment of someone is.” 

Yoda himself has faced a lifetime of bigoted comments, as well as many unpleasant encounters with some close minded people. 

**“Why should I?”** Kurama narrowed his eyes at Yoda’s suggestion. **“The brat won’t even speak to me unless he needs me, so why should I waste my time with him?”**

“Both of you will need each other, when the time is right.” Yoda stated rather bluntly. “Sense a dark future, I have.” 

**“When will that happen?”**

“Know, I do not. Trust in the Force, you should. Need each other, you both will.” 

Kurama narrowed his eyes at the little old man, but he could tell that he was telling the truth. He didn’t know much about this “Force,” nor about the powers that came with it, but what he did know was that at times, it helped warn the user about a future event that would happen. 

**“You still have trouble talking normally, old man,”**

Yoda chuckled at this, which brought a small grin to his face. 

**“But, I’ll take your word for it. Hagoromo trusted you, so I will too.”**

His eyes then glared at the seal that bound him to the boy. 

**“It’s nice to know that you’re still breathing, old man. The others would be very pleased to see you as well.”**

Yoda smiled at the Nine-Tailed Fox. “Chance in the future, there may be. Came, the Republic has, to establish ties with the village, it is doing right now.” 

Kurama raised an eyebrow at that. 

**“So after all these years, you guys finally decided to come back from your silly war to try to establish connections with these hairless monkeys? Hah, good luck with that. I’ve seen the people here fight so many wars that I learned to stop counting.”**

“Any word from the others?” Yoda asked, referring to the other Tailed Beasts. Kurama shook his head. 

**“Like I said, old man, they suffered the same faith as I have.”** Kurama knocked at the seal from behind his cage. **“I did recently encounter that idiot Shukaku though. His container was a bit nuts, and he tried to attack the brat’s village not that long ago. He pretty much got his ass kicked by my container, who only used a little bit of my chakra to defeat him at his full form.”**

Kurama roared in laughter. **“I hate to admit it, but the brat started growing on me when he beat up Shukaku’s ass!”**

Yoda chuckled, delighted to see Kurama laugh. It reminded him of that innocent laugh that he had when he was just a small fox. 

Curious, he then asked, “The name of the boy, what is?”

**“Oh, the kid?”** Kurama grunted. **“His mother was actually my previous host, and her family was known to be the Seal Masters across the nation.”** Kurama chuckled. **“And guess who’s name is it.”**

Yoda listened as Kurama gave a brief history about the kid’s mother, her family, and the kid himself. Yoda’s ears drooped as he was stunned and saddened to know the fate of the kid’s family, as well as his harsh life that he lived out in the village. 

“Many hardships, life seems to have brought to him. Deserved it, he did not. Good heart, he seems to have, according to you.” Yoda sighed. 

**“Yeah…”** Kurama agreed. **“The kid’s annoying as hell and eats unhealthy, and there are times when I want to rip my ears out in frustration, but, as painful as it is to say this, the brat does remind me of Hagoromo at times. The boy’s got determination, loyalty, strong willpower, and a strong convictions protect those who are precious to him.”**

The more he talked about Naruto, the more he realized that he kind of liked the kid after all. 

“I see.” Yoda nodded with a smile. He then glanced upwards, as if sensing something. 

“Unfortunately, but go, I must. Speak to you again, I hope to do so soon.” 

**“See you soon, old friend.”** Kurama gave a genuine smile for the first time in ages. 

“Indeed, we will.”

  
  


* * *

Opening his eyes, Yoda grunted after his mind exited the boy’s seal. He frowned at what he learned about the tailed beasts, and how even after everything that has happened, it would appear that the natives have not learned their lesson after Kaguya. 

That could, however, change, thanks to the boy named Naruto Uzumaki, who, despite all the hate and prejudice, had chosen to stay with the village, to try to protect those that he cared about. Perhaps with this boy’s help, he can help bridge the gap between the tailed beasts and the natives. Perhaps with this boy’s help, Kurama could learn to open up to others again, and be that small fox from many centuries ago. 

“Unpredictable, this one is.” Yoda said, before getting off the chair to leave the room. “Like his future, very unpredictable.” 

Just before he went out of earshot from Naruto’s room, he noticed a group of teenagers approaching the boy’s room. He could sense their worry for the boy, and their smiles from when the purple-haired woman assured them that everything was alright, and that they could visit the boy with their permission. 

“Powerful Jedi, become you could. Looking forward to see your future, I am.” Yoda said to no one, before putting his hood over his head, and walking away. “Your name, history has not forgotten. Traits of my old friend, you have.”

Yoda knew that the moment they felt The Ripple, everything would change. He knew that with this planet now under the eyes of both the Jedi and the Sith, things will be forever changed. How, is the question. Unfortunately, only time will tell. 

The Force itself was indeed mysterious in its ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This version of the story will definitely have the full lemons, since atm, I'm assuming that the writer and I will not be posting the full lemons on FF.net, due to how anal they are with everything (except for trolls and stuff.)


	3. C3 - "A Painful Departure"

**24 BBY [Konoha, 2 Months Later]**

Two months. 

That’s how long it has been since the Retrieval Mission’s success. That was also how long it has been since the people from the Galactic Republic has visited their planet since forever. In those short two months, a lot has changed for not just the Leaf Village, but also for the world they have now came to identify as “Elementia.” 

After a few tense moments, the Republic diplomats was successful in their mission to communicate with the natives, and to establish first contact peacefully. The Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire was enthusiastic to accept the terms of the deal the Republic had offered, and just like that, they became the first society of Elementia to have connections with the Galactic Republic, with the news going global around the world of this new development. 

It didn’t take long before the other Shinobi Villages were approached by the Republic. They either accepted their invitation to join the Republic, were still indecisive about the choice, or outright rejected their offer. Currently, more negotiations and meetings were happening between the other Kages and Feudal Lords, with the main issue being trade between the villages, potential job distributions, as well as old conflicts getting in the way of progress. 

As for Konoha, however, the change was already growing visible, as evident by the upgrading Hokage Tower and the landing ports being built outside of the village. 

The village’s renovation was being observed from the Konoha Hospital window, where Shizune and Tsunade were watching the technological progress from above. 

“Wow…” Shizune’s hands trembled slightly as she did her best to not drop her folders. “I still can’t believe this is happening…” 

She turned to look at her teacher - and deadpanned when she saw the Hokage drinking again. 

Tsunade was currently emptying a small container of sake that she carried around with her. 

“Ahhh, that hits the spot.” 

“Lady Tsunade!”

“Don’t be like that, Shizune.” Tsunade grunted. “It’s only a small drink.”

“But still-”

“Let’s not change the topic.” Tsunade turned to walk with her apprentice. “How’s the kid’s recovery going?”

“Oh, Naruto? Oh, you know him: No matter what life throws at him, he bounces right back.” Shizune smiled. 

She glanced at the medical reports, and read, “He passed the examinations, and is currently doing some rehabilitation exercises for muscular regeneration and for his respiratory system. Of course, he’ll still be out of commission for maybe a month or so to properly recover from his internal wounds, but aside from that, he’s doing great!” 

“That’s good to know.” Tsunade smiled as they arrived at Naruto’s room. She knocked on the door, and after a few seconds of silence, they let themselves in. 

Sitting on his bed was Naruto, who was staring out the window. Still wrapped up in bandages, it was hard to tell what Naruto was thinking as he gazed at the technological revolution going on just outside of them. 

“Naruto.”

The boy seemed a little startled as he finally turned around to greet his visitors. 

“Oh hey Granny. Hey, Sis. Good to see you.” Naruto said in an unusually calm way, before turning back to the window to stare at the construction. 

Tsunade, who did not expect this strange behavior from her newly-adopted grandson, sobered up immediately. She turned to Shizune to whisper into her ear. 

“Why is he so-”

“Different? Quieter? Down?” Shizune finished her question. “You’re not the only one asking that, my Lady. Ever since Naruto was told of the damage inflicted on him, as well as Team 7’s disbandment, he hasn’t really been himself. Even the news about the Galactic Republic didn’t seem to faze him too much.” 

  
  


“I see.” Tsunade finally said wearily. Seeing Naruto looking and sounding so down did the same to her as well, finding his emotions to be surprisingly contagious at times. “When will his mental examination take place?” 

“I asked Inoichi Yamanaka personally, and he said that he’s open to check on Naruto this evening.”

“Good, I want to know those reports at first hand.”

“I can still hear you guys.” Naruto broke their silent conversation without looking back. “So you don’t have to talk behind my back.”

An awkward silence filled the air as they realized what they just did. Tsunade finally cleared her throat, breaking the silence, before walking back up to the blond. 

“How are you, kid?” 

“I’m...doing fine.” Naruto said slowly. “I just...didn’t expect any of this to happen, honestly.”

“Which one, the visitors from outer space, or Sasuke being the reason for Team 7’s disbandment.” 

Naruto flinched at that last part, and Tsunade wondered if she had gone a little too far with her bluntness. Fortunately, Naruto seemed to recover quickly enough. 

“Kinda both. Right now though, I think the aliens from outer space really takes the cake on the level of unexpected.” 

That made Tsunade smile a bit, hearing a little bit of the Naruto she knew and grew to love and care for. 

“Well kiddo, you’re taking it better than I did. I mean, I’ll admit, the first thing I did when those guys came from the sky, I ended up emptying about four bottles of sake on the spot.” Tsunade said with a smirk. 

“Tsk, pretty much the same reaction when you played our savings away.” Shizune muttered. 

Tsunade turned to her apprentice with narrowed eyes. “What was that, Shizune?”

Gulping, Shizune stumbled backwards. 

“I, um, I’ll just leave you two alone.” She said, before hastily leaving the two to themselves. 

Once left alone, Naruto suddenly became more open to her. “Granny, I need you to answer me about something.”

“About what, kid?” Tsunade asked, wondering what Naruto had on his mind. “You know, you’re not usually like thi-”

“Is Team 7 really going to disband?” He asked his question to her while staring through the window.

“Listen Naruto, whatever you promised to-”

“Is our team going to disband?” Naruto turned to her with an empty stare, looking directly at her. “Just be honest with me. Yes or no?”

Tsunade sighed, deciding to finally be upfront about it. “Yes, by the looks of it, Team 7 will be broken up until further notice.”

“So that’s it. Team 7 is finished.” Naruto said numbly, before turning back to the window. “And I heard that my shinobi career is over as well.” 

The Galactic Republic had recently instituted a policy that prohibited children from joining the military of one’s nation or planet’s state until they reach the age of seventeen, to which Tsunade had agreed on after some hesitation, meaning that all shinobi under that age would be put in non-active duty, or simply were put on small tasks that mostly involved working inside the village. 

“It’s not over, Naruto. You’re just put out of active duty for at least until you turn seventeen, then you can go back to being assigned to missions outside the village.”

“With who? If my team gets disbanded, me and Sakura will be floaters.” 

A floater was another word for genin team members who lost their comrades and were waiting in circulation for a re-assembling shinobi team, which could mean months or even years for the average shinobi. 

“I guess it’s finally time for some good news, kid.” That voice came from the window. The two blondes looked outside, and saw that it was Jiraiya, who was sitting on top of a giant toad he had summoned. 

“Pervy Sage?”

“I’m gonna ignore that for your health.” Jiraiya said calmly. “Anyways, I came here to tell you that I’ve got a plan for us to leave this village so that we can focus on your training.” 

This news made Naruto’s sore back stiffen in surprise. 

“Huh, why?”

“Because of Akatsuki.” Jiraiya said without hesitation. “I’ve been told by my informants that they put their operations on hold for now, and seemed to have completely disappeared.” The Toad Sage said, turning to his apprentice. “I’m planning on leaving right after you've been discharged from the hospital, but not before I get a medical examination from Tsunade herself. Will you?”

Tsunade nodded. “Of course I will.”

“But wait!” Naruto frantically waved his hands to get them both to pause. “W-what about Sakura?”

“She’s going to become a medical ninja.” Tsunade answered, making Naruto turn to her. “She’s got potential. If she can pass the tests Shizune’s giving her now, then I might consider taking her under my wing.” 

Tsunade had been initially hesitant to give the pinkette a chance, since she’s been told all the horror stories about her being a typical, useless fangirl, who was, to be quite blunt, a burden to the shinobi ranks, and quite personally, a disgrace to all of the kunoichi who had to fight tooth and nail to get to where they are, as well as to try to banish that embarrassing stereotype. But when Sakura begged for a chance, admitting to her mistakes and expressing her desire to not become a burden to her future teammates, she decided to give the girl just one chance. 

Satisfied, Jiraiya cleared his throat. “With this news about the Akatsuki, we got a chance to train you properly without any distractions, and prepare you for if and when they return.” 

Naruto’s face hardened at the memory of his encounter with the two Akatsuki members. He remembered how even with the Kyuubi’s chakra, he was rendered useless because of the shark man’s sword, which apparently could  _ eat _ chakra. He also remembered just how Itachi, the man that Sasuke had always talked about killing, just utterly destroyed his Uchiha friend. Sasuke, the prodigy of the Academy, the one who managed to puncture Gaara’s sand shield with Kakashi’s Chidori, was helpless against his elder brother, who humiliated him in front of Naruto and the shark man. He even did something to Sasuke’s mind, which is probably what drove him to try to defect in the first place. 

The young jinchuuriki turned back towards Tsunade. “When?”

“Tomorrow, if possible.” Tsunade answered, folding her arms. “You’ve been having a steady recovery, but I still want you to take it easy, at least for another week or two. That’s where I count on you, Jiraiya.” She said with a clear warning.

Jiraiya only laughed at her as a response, and nodded. “Don’t worry about us, Tsunade. He’s going to be in good hands. When he comes back to the village, you won’t even recognize him.” Jiraiya promised to his friend and long time comrade with a smirk.

This got Tsunade to shake her head, before a small chuckle escaped her lips. Despite Jiraiya’s foolishness, she knew that he was being serious this time, and that he would do anything to make sure Naruto didn’t do something stupid. 

“Alright then. We’ll leave you alone for now, Naruto. Get as much rest as you can.” 

“Yeah kid, get some shuteye while you can. This will be your last night in the village.” Jiraiya said, before hopping out the window and landing on the toad’s head.

Naruto looked out of the window, and saw his perverted teacher leave on the toad, leaving the blonde knucklehead on his own. He looked back towards the sky, and saw that it was already getting dark, already seeing stars in the sky.

While he didn’t show it, he was very excited to learn that there was life beyond their blue sky, and that there was a whole galaxy filled with planets, filled with diverse people and animals. 

Deep in his heart, however, he was also slightly frightened at the news. 

Why? Well, one minute, he was fighting his teammate after a long chase across the vast forests, and the next minute after he woke up, he heard and saw that his village had been visited by people from outer space, and now there are spaceports and other futuristic technology being built around their village. Fear was a rather appropriate response if you asked anybody, especially to a coma patient. 

“If there are over billions of people born around the galaxy…” Naruto asked to himself, “Then why was I born here alone?” That particular question didn’t come out of nowhere for Naruto. He had always wondered why it was him that had to take the burden of being the Kyuubi’s container. He had always wondered why out of everybody in the world, he had to also lose his parents, who could’ve protected him from the glares and who could’ve helped him sleep at night in peace. He had always wondered who his family was, and if they were important enough to where he was chosen to live this rather sad life. 

_ ‘Or maybe they just picked a random orphan to use to contain the Kyuubi.’ _

Naruto shook his head. He could’ve focus on those thoughts now. It just made him dizzy all of a sudden. Closing his eyes, he laid his head back onto his soft pillow. 

He wondered if even with everything else that was going on, his life would change for the better. 

* * *

**[Raxus Secundus, Raxulon]**

Raxulon was one of the many planets that was laid out in the Outer Rim. Forgotten and neglected by the corrupt Republic, it was one of the many planets that was a part of the new, growing faction that was now beginning to rival the Galactic Republic, with Raxulon in particular being the capital base and the political heart of the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS), or as they were better known as the Separatist Alliance. 

This alliance was being led by Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master who, like many others, was disgusted by the Republic’s corruption and incompetence. 

Unbeknownst to the Separatists, however, this wasn’t the only reason why Count Dooku was their leader. While Dooku was indeed the leader of the Confederacy, he was secretly under the will of another entity. An entity, who was far stronger than Dooku, and had far more sinister plans for the Separatists than what they were aware of. 

Speaking of the Fallen Jedi, he was currently walking through the dark hallway of the empty building, which was previously filled with senators from the Confederacy, who were discussing the latest news about the secret planets Elementia and Earth, which the Jedi were keeping from the Republic, as well as the current politics on the said planets. That was the same topic that he intended to talk about with his master, who had summoned him. 

_ ‘Who knew that there was still so much about the Force that we had yet to learn about.’ _ Dooku thought, trembling with slight fear and excitement when he thought back to “The Ripple”, as the Jedi called it.  _ ‘Large beasts made from the Dark Side of the Force? How intriguing…’ _

Dooku then shook his head as he made it to his room. It wouldn’t do good for him to be lost in his thoughts when his master was talking to him. He knew from experience that making his master angry was never a good idea. Taking the time to clear his mind, he locked his room to prevent any possibilities of unwanted guests, before he activated his holotransmitter. 

A human-sized hologram popped up, and Dooku made sure to go on his knee to bow to Lord Sidious. 

“Master….”

_ “Lord Tyranus.” _ His master’s voice rasped through the holotransmitter.  _ “I’m eager to hear about the results of today’s politics on Raxus.” _

“I am pleased to inform you that with the vast support of the full chamber, led by Senator Bonteri, a delegation will be prepared to leave for the two planets for a diplomatic mission.” Dooku informed Lord Sidious. Due to the fact that both planets are located in the Outer Rim, the vote was unanimous to try to get the two planets to join the Confederacy - or at least, certain parts of the planet anyways, as both were currently divided into separate nations/countries. “I must say my master, this action may trigger a potential race of diplomacy with the Republic once they catch wind of this.” 

_ “That is of no concern of mine at the current moment.” _ Sidious replied coolly.  _ “What I am more interested in would be the disturbance in the Force I know you also felt a few months back.” _

“Are you referring to ‘The Ripple’, my Lord?” Dooku asked, not looking up just yet. “Of course I have felt it, but what of it?”

_ “I am eager to inform you that I have been told of the exact source of that power.”  _ Sidious’s face stretched into a wicked grin from underneath his cloak.  _ “To make matters much more pleasant, the host of this untapped power is currently in its weakest form. With the Jedi not present on the planet of Elementia, I want you to retrieve it for me.” _

It was obvious that the Sith Lord was very interested in this ancient child of the Dark Side, and wished to study it further to see if its creation can be replicated, as well as if it can be used for their own desires. 

“How shall we go about this, my Lord?”

_ “It would be unwise to do this job yourself,” _ Sidious said wisely,  _ “for it will only catch the unwanted attention of the Jedi. So, I want you to use more...discreet methods to cover our trail.” _

“If that’s the case, then I shall hire mercenaries to do the dirty work.” Dooku nodded. “Their allegiance is only to those that pay them, and thus, a sufficient amount of credits will get the job done and keep their lips shut. It shall be done, my lord.” 

_ “Very good, Tyranus. I expect to see my target in our hands soon enough.”  _

The holo transmission ended, which was followed by a few beeps. When Dooku pressed the button again, a list of data appeared in front of him, telling him the exact details of the planet, of the politics that was occuring, as well as the security detail for the planet. 

Reading through the document, his eyes finally landed on the page that discussed the details of the target. 

“Hmm, I see.” Dooku nodded. After giving it some thought, he then pushed a few buttons, intending to contact a certain group of mercenaries, who, while not cheap, were qualified to get the job done...with one in particular who will be hired to lead the job.

  
  


* * *

**[Kamino, Tipoca City]**

Kamino is a planet known for its massive ocean. Of course, it wasn’t always a planet without land. A long time ago, the planet of Kamino used to have lands and icebergs. However, time changes everything, and not always for the better. Climate change, which was brought on by natural occurrences and by pollution, had began to drown the land, eventually causing the natives to either flee...or adapt. 

And adapt, many did. The Kaminoans, who were the masters of science, refused to leave their planet, choosing instead to build cities that stood above the roaring ocean. One of these cities is called Tipoca City, where like the other cities, they would continue their path of science, eventually becoming masters of genetics and cloning. 

Inside Tipoca City lived a mercenary, who made the wet city his home. This man was currently in his normal attire, which he normally wore underneath his armor. 

The man’s name was Jango Fett, and he was currently residing on Kamino to oversee a project that he agreed on with Tyranus for which he would be rewarded with a good amount of credits - as well as something else.

“Dad.”

Jango looked to his left to see a young boy walk in. This young boy, who he regarded as his son, was actually his clone. An unaltered clone who, aside from his birth, grew up normally with no scientific modifications. Having the exact some curly, brown hair and having the exact same eyes as he once did, Boba Fett was certainly like his father. 

“What is it, Boba?” Jango walked up to him, ruffling his hair. “Something on your mind?” 

“It’s almost lunchtime.” Boba said. “You told me we’ll be eating together for today. You promised.” 

Just before Jango could agree, his holotransmitter began to beep. 

  
  


“Did I, huh? Alright, I was getting hungry anyways.” Jango smirked, messing around with his son until he heard the beeping, and turned around to see the transmitter going off.

Boba, who was already by the door, turned his head around to see his dad walking over to the transmitter. “Dad, what are you doing?” 

“Nothing, son. Just need to answer this.” He replied, and picked up the small device. “Go to the canteen, I’ll catch up to you.”

“Okay.” Boba frowned slightly as he walked through the door, leaving Jango alone once the door closed. Sighing at how little attention he was giving to his son, he answered the transmission.

_ “Jango Fett.” _

“Tyranus, I wasn’t expecting you to call. Was about to go and eat now if you didn’t mind.”

_ “Oh, I am not here to waste your time, my friend. I’ve contacted you because I need your extraordinary skills again to retrieve something. You heard of those new planets that were discovered?” _

“You mean what they call Elementia and Earth? Yeah, I heard about them. What gives?”

_ “There’s something on Elementia that I want you to retrieve.”  _ Tyranus/Dooku told him.

“What is it that you want me to retrieve from there?”

_ “That I’ve already told your partner. Who I know for a fact you’ve worked with before.” _ Tyranus brought up.  _ “A Clawdite bounty hunter who goes by the name Zam Wessel, if I’m not mistaken.” _

_ ‘Zam, of course she’d take the job.’ _ Shaking his head, Jango replied, “That’s her, yes.”

_ “This mission is one that requires stealth.”  _ Tyranus explained.  _ “These warriors are dangerous, fast, and not to be underestimated. That’s why I hired her for her abilities so that she may have the best chance at infiltration. Her role is to make sure she retrieves the target with the help of a few other pirates I’ve employed.” _

“Let me guess,” Jango could already tell where this was going. “You want me to be there in case things go horribly wrong.”

_ “Yes, indeed.” _ Tyranus nodded  _ “You’ll be there to help her if things don’t go as planned. If you succeed, you will be rewarded handsomely. That I can assure you.” _

“How much?”

_ “5, like last time.” _

Jango fell into silence as he thought about taking the job. Work has been rather slow lately, especially when he was already swamped up with training the Clone Troopers. Plus, this was a good opportunity to check out the new planets, especially Elementia, due to his interest in them being “super soldiers.” Plus, the pay was looking quite good; good enough where he might be able to retire from the business and focus on his other goals… 

“Alright.” Jango nodded. “I’ll do it. I’ll do the job.”

_ “Splendid.” Tyranus smiled. “Your friend is already on her way to Elementia. The target is inside of their hospital, which will be guarded heavily. Your friend will be disguised as a nurse there to make her final checks before the target will be discharged from the hospital. I suggest you move swiftly, since my sources say the target is planning to leave the village very soon.”  _

“And you’re afraid this will be the only chance to capture this target.” Jango guessed. “Am I correct?”

_ “Yes, that’s why we cannot risk him being seen by anyone.”  _ Tyranus explained.  _ “Luckily, the Republic has already has sent fresh supplies for medical and transport, giving you and Zam the opportunity to smuggle the target out of the planet without alerting the authorities.” _

“If that’s the case, I’ll need to hire more muscle.” Jango said, calculating his chances. “This ain’t going to be an easy job, so I’ll have to buy some favors.”

_ “Are you sure?”  _ Tyranus raised his eyebrow.  _ “Failure cannot be an option.” _

“Pay a little extra, and I promise you that won’t happen.”

_ “... Very well then, the additional credits will be waiting for you when you succeed your mission. Tell me, who are going to hire?” _

“The same ones you were probably thinking of hiring, should I have rejected the offer.” Jango replied a little cheekily. “If I were you, I’d be very generous on that extra.”

Dooku looked a little miffed at having his mind read, but just sighed. 

_ “I will hear from you when the job is done.”  _

The hologram shrank out of existence as the transmission ended. Jango let out a big sigh as he saw the data appear on his device. Pushing the button, he began to read it.

“Dad.” 

Jango looked towards the door, and quickly deactivated the device. He saw it was his son Boba, who was carrying two trays of food on it.

“I thought instead of sitting in a big empty canteen, why not just eat here?” Boba gave a warm smile at his father while bringing the food to the table.

Not being able to stop the smile on his face, Jango put the device down, and took the time to eat with his son and have some quality father/son time. After a few minutes of light chatter, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

“Boba, what would you say if you wanted to come and join me on a trip I gotta go now?”

“Oh, where to?”

“That new planet, Elementia.”

“Really? With who?”

  
  


* * *

**Later that night**

**[Konoha - Hospital]**

The sun had already set over Konoha, and the last examination for Naruto was about to take place. If he was well enough, he would be discharged from the hospital, and would go with Jiraiya to train with him for a few years. 

“Everything is ready for Mr. Uzumaki’s mental examination, ma’am.” A nurse informed Shizune. “Inoichi Yamanaka will be arriving in the next hour, and Lady Hokage is on her way right now.” 

The two of them was walking through the nearly empty hallway, with the nurse pushing a hovering cart full of supplies. 

“...You know, I still can’t wrap my head around this new technology.” The nurse finally stated. “I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that we were still using carts with wheels!” 

The two medics chuckled at that. It was indeed a strange transition, with the new supplies being the least weirdest thing they’ve seen and touched by far. 

They eventually made it to Naruto’s room, and stopped when they saw the commotion that was going on in there. 

“I told you, I was ordered to bring in these supplies for the boy.” A nurse was arguing with the ANBU guard. 

“I told you ma’am, we need to see the paperwork that verifies your claim.” One of the ANBU guards stated plainly. “Otherwise, we cannot let you in.” 

“What is going on here?” Shizune stepped up to the nurse. The nurse turned to look at her with a small frown. 

“Ah, thank goodness you’re here! I’ve been trying to get these supplies in for the past five minutes, but these guys won’t let me in!” 

Shizune looked at the floating cart the nurse was holding on to, then looked at the one by her side. Both were identical in the numbers of supplies, as well as the supplies themselves. 

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” 

“Oh! I’m June! June Saeki!” The nurse shook her hand. “I’m new here, and I’m so glad that I can work under you and Tsunade!” 

To further prove her point, she fished out an ID card, which matched her photo perfectly. 

“Well, it checks out.” Shizune sighed. “Here, since it’s your first time, I’m going to let this one go, alright? Just put it back in the Supply Room, and go to my office so that we can further discuss the error.” 

“Okay.” The nurse looked downtrodden, obviously embarrassed at her mistake. “I’m sorry.” 

The nurse glumly pushed the cart away, her sighs seemingly echoing in the hallway. 

“What an idiot.” The nurse next to Shizune snorted. Shizune shot her a small glare, before she ordered her to take out the paperwork.

… 

The door opened, and Naruto finally turned around. 

“Oh hey Shizune.” Naruto smiled, seeing his sister figure.

Shizune smiled at him. “Hello Naruto, how are you feeling?”

“Well, I’m hungry, that I can say.” He said, giving her a sheepish grin while scratching the back of his head. “I really could use a cup of ramen right now.”

Shizune and the nurse couldn’t help but giggle about Naruto’s comment, since he was being his usual self. The elderly nurse was one of the few medics who was actually fond of Naruto, since she was one of the few people that Hiruzen, the previous Hokage, had indulged her his secret, and was also his caretaker when he was an infant. 

“You know the rules Naruto: No junk food for the next few days, especially stuff like ramen.” Shizune waved a finger at him with a mock frown. “Try to eat more vegetables.” 

She then turned towards their cart, picking up an odd looking syringe. Naruto flinched at the sight of that. 

“Sorry Naruto, we’re going to need to do one last surgery before you’re cleared to go.” Shizune smiled, before grabbing Naruto’s arm. 

The other nurse frowned at that. 

“Another surgery? I thought the boy was clear to leave tomorrow after the mental examination.” 

Shizune froze at that, the syringe inches away from his arm. Naruto tensed. Something was wrong.

SHLINK! ZAP! 

Shizune suddenly stabbed the syringe into Naruto’s arm, before she whipped her body around. With a flash of blue light, the elderly nurse fell over with her head hitting the wall, knocking her out unconscious. 

“W-what’s...going on?” Naruto’s muffled voice, which was already beginning to die out, managed to say one last thing, before Naruto fell back. He struggled to stay awake, now knowing that something was wrong, but his eyelids were growing heavier. 

And just like that, everything went dark.

… 

Jango Fett scanned the hospital building across them from the rooftop. Thankfully for them, construction was still taking place there, and thus, there were only a few guards around the area for them to avoid. 

He chewed his lip when he saw another round of those shinobi guards walk around the hospital. Despite their discipline, they were obviously still astounded by the new technology surrounding them, as evident by their heads turning occasionally to look at the new upgrades. 

Shaking his head at them, he kneeled down and tapped his gloved finger on his helmet. 

“Zam, do you hear me? Zam?”

_ “Damn it Jango, yes, I can hear you.” _ Zam cursed.  _ “Kriff, you could’ve blown my cover.” _

“Did you get the target?” Jango asked, uninterested for her complaints while looking at the hospital entrance. “Your team’s gonna get noticed at some point, and we only have one distraction ready for you.”.”

_ “I know, don’t have to tell me twice. I’m going as fast as I can.”  _ Zam said, before she let out a quiet hiss.  _ “I need to be quiet now, see you outside.” _

And just like that, silence filled the air again, save for the footsteps that was headed towards Jango from the back.

“Pff, she’s still got a lot to learn.” The second best bounty hunter in the galaxy snorted. 

This bounty hunter, unlike Jango, was not a human, but rather, a Duros. With breathing tubes installed to his face and a large hat on his bald, blue head, this bounty hunter rivaled Jango in terms of skill and ruthlessness. 

The two of them weren’t enemies per say, but they weren’t friends either. Instead, their relationship has developed into more of a semi-friendly rivalry, where the two of them would compete for reputation, credits, and overall skill. 

“Are you sure she can do the job without alerting the whole place?” 

“Zam can handle herself.” Jango replied, briefly glancing back at his hired partner before looking back at the hospital. “Besides, my employee hired her for her abilities. I didn’t get a say about it.” 

“Hmm.” Cad Bane mused as he took another look around their surroundings, this time paying attention to the primitive village itself. “You know, if the rumors about the natives are true, then I suppose it makes sense to why even you felt the need to hire a crew. These natives remind me an awful lot of your old stories you used to talk about, do they not?”

Cad Bane was one of the many that respected Jango for not just his skills, but for his heritage as a Mandalorian warrior. Only a few in the galaxy did not know about the tales of the Mandalorian warriors, and how the wars they’ve waged devastated the galaxy. While they lacked the connection to the Force the Jedi and the Sith held, they made up for that with technology, ingenuity, and their ruthlessness. While their numbers had thinned out, their reputation hasn’t. Cad Bane was one of the lucky few who has ever met a warrior such as Jango, and has not only lived to tell the tale, but was also perhaps the only one who have heard stories from the said warrior as well. 

“Mmhm.” Jango then went silent for a minute, until- 

“Look, they’re coming out.” 

The hospital doors were pushed open, and a group of Weequay pirates, disguised as cargo workers, stepped out of the hospital, pushing a large medical pod out of the building. They were playing as a Republic transport crew, whose original role was to deliver the latest supplies and technology for the hospital. Normally, the sight of nonhumans would’ve attracted more attention, but at this point, the Republic has been in and out of the primitive village, which also meant introducing more races. Sure, the less human they looked, the more stares they got, but Jango could tell that the xenophobia was beginning to diminish. 

“And here goes phase two of the plan.” Jango muttered to his rival, watching as a female “human” followed the the weequays. “I just hope those pirates don’t start any problems.” 

“You’re telling me.” Cad Bane glared at the entrance. “We’ve already spent too much time here. Let’s just hope your lady friend didn’t make a mistake.” 

… 

Shizune nodded at a few nurses, who eyed the weequays and the blanketed pod with some confusion and suspicion. Luckily for them, this was enough to get the nurses off of their backs. 

Feeling rather uncomfortable at the number of stares of suspicion, she silently ordered the team to hurry it up a little, which they wholeheartedly agreed with. They took a right turn towards the exit, but then got noticed by two shinobi, who just happened to stop by at the hospital. 

“Was that Shizune?” Anko Mitarashi asked. “She looks a bit stressed.”

“Maybe she’s just worried for Naruto.” Kakashi said, staring at the leaving group. “Let’s just wait for her at her office.” 

“Right…” Anko hesitantly shrugged it off. While she knew that it was best to not interrupt Shizune on her medical business, especially when looking stressed like that, something didn’t sit right with her. For one, it wasn’t any of the nurses that was helping her move the pod, but rather, some weird, alien guys that was just there to help transport the supplies. Then there was the fact that she was moving a “medical pod” (which, by the way, really looked like a glass coffin if you asked her) at all, which, if she remembered correctly, wasn’t part of her schedule. 

CRASH! 

Anko’s thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi kicked down Shizune’s door. She ran up to him, a kunai already in her hands. 

“Shit.” Kakashi cursed, staring inside of Shizune’s office. Anko went to look, and froze at the sight of Shizune’s body, tied up, gagged, and nearly nude, desperately trying to crawl out of her closet. 

“That wasn’t Shizune we just saw earlier, Kakashi.” Anko gritted her teeth, before dashing out of the room.

“What’s going on?” The nurse had just walked inside of the office, hearing the commotion. She gasped when she saw Shizune’s battered form. “I-I don’t understand-”

“Find Lady Hokage and warn her we’ve got an intruder.” Kakashi ordered her. “The intruder took on Shizune’s form, and just walked out of the hospital with a group of aliens and a medical pod. And put a lockdown on the hospital, now!” He ordered, before following Anko.

* * *

“Shizune” and her team were walking towards a landing pad, where a group of ships and the forest would cover their escape. Just outside of the landing pad, hiding at the edge of the forest, was a large, long speeder that had another speeder pod in the back for additional passengers, which was chained to the pilot pod with a singular plasma chain. This would be Zam and her group’s getaway vehicle so that they could make it to the  _ Slave I _ and the weequays’ G9 Rigger-class light freighter, which they “borrowed” from the Republic transporters. 

Since the landing pad was still under construction, the Republic couldn’t give the village any large ships yet. That’s why they had to use small freighters and such to deliver supplies and men. The training grounds, which was already full of small ships for delivering materials for construction, wasn’t available for the Republic’s latest supply deliver, so they had to land in the surrounding forest, where a small area was cleared for them. 

That was the opening they needed. The minute the ship’s doors were opened, the team ambushed both the shinobi and the Republic men. 

The shinobi, despite being picked off by their sniper, still put up a deadly fight, managing to wipe out half of their men and injuring a few others, before Jango, Bane, and their sniper took care of the rest. 

“Double-time it guys. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.” 

“Shizune?” Someone said her name and the woman turned around to see a woman and two girls walking towards her. The one who was almost her age had black untamed hair, strange red colored eyes that looked like rings and she wore a strange outfit that resembled like bandages or something. The smaller girl was weirder, she had blue short hair and creepy looking eyes to her view and wore a coat while it wasn’t even cold and the weirdest what she saw was the last girl who had almost flower like pinkish hair and emerald green looking eyes. Seriously what is it with this place with weird clothing and eye colors?

“Shizune?” 

Every single one of them froze as someone called out for the imposter’s name. They turned around and saw a full grown woman alongside of two teenage girls walking behind her. The woman, which looked about her age, had black, untamed hair, with strange red eyes that surprisingly suited her well. Her outfit seemed to consist of purely bandages, which did wonders to show off her nice figure. 

Then there was the two girls, who were equally strange on their own. The one with the short, blue hair was wearing a rather thick jacket, despite the weather not being very cold. Their attention, however, rested mostly on her eyes, which was milky white. First glance, they thought she was blind, until they realized that she was staring directly at them, which was rather unusual. 

Finally, there was the pink-haired girl. Aside from her unusual hair color, there wasn’t anything remarkable about her, and overall, she seemed to be the least dangerous of them all. 

“I didn’t know you were scheduled to help these men move the supplies back to the ship.” Kurenai commented, glancing at the blanketed pod. 

“W-well, you know the Republic,” “Shizune” chuckled nervously. “Them and their additions to our village really works us to the bone.” 

“But weren’t you given some time off after Naruto’s exam?” Kurenai asked. 

Each group was growing progressively tense. Kurenai and the other two girls couldn’t help but notice just how tense the workers and Shizune looked, almost as if they stumbled onto something they should’ve have. 

Hinata, no longer feeling shy around the foreigners, glared as she activated her Byakugan. She glanced at Shizune, and her eyes widened. 

“Kurenai-sensei!” Hinata took out her kunai. “That’s not Shizune!” 

That’s when all hell broke loose. 

… 

“Blast, they’ve been compromised!” Jango muttered. “Bane!” 

“Way ahead of you.” The duros bounty hunter smirked as he pushed a button on his gauntlet. 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! 

The village fell into chaos as buildings and trees suddenly exploded. The dense forest began to rapidly catch on fire as the bombs did their job on creating as much fire as possible. 

“Time to help out our crew.” Jango said, before he activated his jetpack.

Cad Bane smirked, glancing once at the chaos they had just caused. 

“This is where the fun begins.” He cackled, before he activated his rocket-boots. 

… 

“Come on, Sakura, you can do this.” The pink kunoichi’s forehead began to glisten in sweat as she concentrated. Her palms began to glow green, and the blaster-burn on Hinata’s shoulder began to heal. 

The minute Hinata loudly declared that “Shizune” was an imposter, one of workers pulled out a blaster, and fired at Kurenai. She dodged it, but Hinata ended up taking the bolt to the shoulder. Sakura quickly dragged her out of the line of fire behind some metal boxes while Kurenai covered their retreat, throwing kunai and senbon at them. 

However, “Shizune” ended up throwing down a couple of bombs. One of them exploded, causing their ears to ring from the explosion while also destroying a good part of the landing port. The other was a smoke grenade, albeit one that also caused them to cough and caused their eyes to burn. 

Hinata groaned as he rubbed her eyes, the smoke grenade making her eyes burn. Despite this, however, she kept her Byakugan on, determined to remain the eyes of the group. 

She noticed that just a few meters into the forest were two odd looking vehicles. She knew that they were vehicles, because she similar ones being introduced to the village by the Republic. She also knew that it was their vehicle, due to it always floating off the ground, and how it had a powerful source of energy to always be running. 

But that’s not what got her attention. No, her attention was on the pod they were so adamant on stealing. For one, it was a living, breathing being that was stuck in the pod. Two, that being was a human, and had chakra. 

_ ‘No.’ _ Hinata froze as she just realized who the person in the pod was. 

“That’s-”

“HINATA!” 

She felt someone grab her by her stomach, before she went up in the air. 

She looked up, and saw that it was Kurenai, who was also carrying Sakura in her other arm as she leapt to safety. 

“Hit it!”

BOOM! BOOM! 

Two more detonators were thrown in the area that the kunoichi were just in. Kurenai, who saw this coming, took her fellow kunoichi out of there in time. Twisting in midair, she managed to dodge a couple of blaster shots and some shrapnel. 

As they fell back down to the ground, they managed to see the final moments before the criminals got away on their vehicle. 

Inside of those speeders sat the person who impersonated as Shizune. Still in the medic’s clothing, they cringed at the sight of “Shizune’s” face melting, until it turned into one that resembled a humanoid lizard. She glanced at them with a smirk, before the speeder took off. 

Kurenai bit her lip, and they landed on the ruined spaceport. 

“What the hell just happened?” Sakura breathed, the shock finally coming to an end. Despite this, she trembled as the adrenaline still flowed through her veins, the effects of the unexpected battle still rattling her. 

Kurenai put down the two younger kunoichi and checked on them. “Sakura, are you alright?”

“Y-Yes, sensei.” Sakura stuttered at first, before swallowing it in. “I’m alright.”

“Move it!”

They snapped out of the conversation as Konoha shinobi entered the ruined landing port. Some of them stood around the kunoichi, checking in on them and asking them questions while the others continued into the forest, no doubt chasing the criminals they had just barely survived against. 

One of the shinobi that stood above them was Anko, who tugged on Kurenai’s shoulder. “Come on, Kurenai, we gotta move, now!” 

“What abou-”

“The real Shizune’s fine. The nurses are tending to her.” Anko informed her. “But we gotta chase the intruders, now!” Anko then left them, chasing after the foreign criminals. 

“Right! The genjutsu user nodded, before she looked up at Kakashi. “I’ll leave them to you.” 

The one-eyed shinobi nodded, and then the Genjutsu Mistress disappeared. He looked back down at the two girls below him, and took out some water for the Hyuga, whose eyes and throat were still burning from the smoke. 

“Sakura.” 

“Kakashi-sensei, what’s going on?”

“No time to explain.” Kakashi helped the two up, giving Hinata his water. “Get Hinata inside now, that’s an order! The ANBU here will escort you two.” He said, before running after the criminals..

Picking her up, Sakura began bringing Hinata inside the hospital. “Come on, Hinata. Let's get you inside.”

Coughing a few more times, Hinata was finally able to let out a whisper. 

“Sakura.”

“Hm?” Sakura turned to her. “What is it, Hinata?”

“I need to tell you something.” Hinata rasped. “What I saw in that pod...”

“The medical pod? What about it?”

  
  


* * *

The speeder hummed loudly as the weequay that was driving it put it to full speed. While he didn’t look like it, he was an expert driver, and drove the speeder through the trees with precision, not once even scratching their vehicle on a rock or a tree. 

“Poodoo!” Zam cursed as she saw the shinobi running after them in inhuman speed. She pulled out her blaster, but nearly fell over as the pirate made a sudden turn. 

“Hey, slow down!” Zam yelled at the driver. “We don’t want to crash!”

“If I went any slower, those backwater bastards are gonna git us!” The Weequay spat back. He glanced back at the people that was chasing then, and shivered at their black robes and masks, which showed no emotion at all, and helped them blend in the shadows. 

THUNK! 

Something just hit the inside of the speeder. They looked, and their eyes widened at the sight of a small knife sticking out of the pod’s metal shell. 

THUNK! THUNK! SHLINK! SHLINK! SHLINK!

“URK!” The second they discovered the first knife, a hail of metal followed it. The 4 weequays were fortunate enough to either dodge it completely, or have it hit them in the shoulders/arms. One of them, however, wasn’t so fortunate, and fell over, revealing a kunai knife buried in the back of his head. 

“Oh shit!” Zam cried out. “Brace for impact!” 

The speeder, which was now without a driver, collided into a tree. The metal pods flew in the air, twisting helplessly, before it crashed onto the ground, with its passengers falling painfully onto the dirt. 

“We got them!” The ANBU cried out. “Stay right where you-ACK!” 

The masked man that was talking fell over as he clutched at his throat. 

“What the-?” The other ANBU members managed to say, before they were gunned them by blaster fire. 

A roar echoed the air as two men flew down from below, firing their blasters at the cloaked men. The survivors had to retreat behind the trees, waiting for the right moment to retaliate. 

“Jango!”

“Go!” Jango yelled at them. “You’ve got the package. Get to the ships! We’ll cover you!” 

Zam nodded, before she and the surviving weequays took off. 

“NO!” An ANBU member ran across the battlefield, intending to stop them from taking the pod. 

FWOOM! 

“AHHH!” The minute he ran out of the cover, Cad Bane was already onto him, firing his flamethrower at the man. 

POOF! 

Cad Bane stopped the moment he saw the black silhouette disappear from the sea of flames. The minute his flamethrower stopped, he realized that he had just charred a log. 

POW! POW!

Cad Bane looked to his right, and saw that Jango had shot a kunai midair that was meant for the blue mercenary’s jugular. He had also blasted the ANBU that threw the knife, with the body now falling back to the ground. 

“Expect the unexpected.” Jango warned him, before he fired a few more shots to keep them at bay. 

“We need to move.” Bane just growled, frustrated that Jango saved his life...again. Without looking, he shot an ANBU member that tried to sneak up from behind him. 

“Agreed.” Jango nodded, throwing some more bombs at the trees. 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! 

The unlucky shinobi members, both ANBU and others alike, were caught in the explosion, shrapnel of wood and dirt piercing their bodies. The luckier ones managed to see the bombs in time, getting out of the way. 

… 

_ Her ears rang endlessly as the world seemed to explode around her.  _

_ Blaster shots, explosions, shouting, shrapnel raining from the air, it barely registered to her as she tried to open her eyes.  _

_ Someone was shouting at someone. Were they shouting to her? The ANBU agent didn’t know.  _

_ She tried to get up, and fell down with a muffled yell. Her leg was on fire, needles twisting into her nerves as she put too much weight into her left leg.  _

_ Broken. Her leg was broken. Or maybe just injured. She didn’t want to know.  _

_ CLUNK. CLUNK. CLUNK.  _

_ She heard something land near her slowly, as if time slowed down as someone dropped their pen. Her eyes, which was partially exposed from behind her broken mask, looked at the source of the noise.  _

_ It was that same, shiny metal ball with glowing, red lights. It had landed near her, and it was beginning to beep.  _

_ ‘Shit.’ Her drowsy mind managed to think. ‘Ah well, I lived a good life.’ _

_ The fallen ANBU shinobi closed her eyes as she accepted her fate.  _

And suddenly, she felt warm. Opening her eyes, she realized that she was in the arms of another shinobi. 

BOOM! 

The explosion, which was still muffled like everything else, erupted in the background, and she could briefly see the small ball of fire and shrapnel erupt from behind her savior. 

“-ou alright?” 

She blinked, and suddenly, her hearing was beginning to return. After a few seconds, she realized that her savior, Asuma Sarutobi, was trying to speak to her. 

“Y-yeah.” She croaked, her throat now dry. “Never been better.” 

The ANBU heard some rapid footsteps from behind the chainsmoker. 

“You guys took your time.” Asuma grunted. “What’s the status of the village? Do we have any backup?” 

“The fires are spreading out of control, so the Hokage has ordered half of all units to evacuate the civilians and to help put out the fire.” Gai noted. “The other half is trying to catch these slimy criminals.” 

He looked at the direction of the mercenaries, only to see that they have used what can be assumed to be their last smoke grenades throughout the forest. He cursed when he saw black smoke intermingling with the white ones, indicating that they also chose to light the surrounding vegetation on fire.

“Kakashi, can you round up all of the injured into one area? You can use your genjutsu to help shield them from harm, if needed.” 

“Right.” The masked shinobi nodded, before he began to gather the wounded. 

Asuma then looked at the rest of his team. 

“Time’s ticking, people. We need to capture the criminals, but our top priority is rescuing Naruto. Let’s move!” 

“Right!” 

* * *

“Just a little bit further!” Zam yelled, throwing over her shoulder the last smoke grenade she had on her. “Just gotta make it to the cliff, then our ride can pick us up!” 

The weequays, who looked morally and physically battered, seemed reenergized when they realized just how close they were to escaping, as well as finishing the job. 

“Those sons of bitches will pay for killing J’han and the others!” One of them growled, his grip on his blaster growing tighter. 

“Another time.” Zam assured him. “In the meantime, we gotta get the hell out of here.” 

“Yeah, we can’t afford to-GAH!” One of the weequays was suddenly snatched up by something thin, yet something large. “Get it off! Get it off!” 

Before they could do or say anything, he was suddenly pulled away into the bushes, blaster fire flying everywhere. 

“No time! Keep going!” Zam shouted, albeit reluctantly. The other weequays looked hesitant, but agreed nonetheless. 

POW! 

A single blaster shot came from in front of them, and suddenly, the weequay’s cries were silenced. Preparing their blasters, they stopped their trigger fingers when they saw it was Cad Bane, who merely scowled at them in challenge. 

“If he squeals, we could be done for.” He growled. “Come on, don’t end up like him!” 

The weequays all glared at his back, but said and did nothing, choosing to continue to run with their package, occasionally firing back to fend off their pursuers. 

Jango sighed at this, shaking his head. 

POW! POW! 

He aimed his pistol upwards, and another dead shinobi fell from the sky. 

Just then, his helmet-visor began to flash a signal. 

“We’re almost there, guys!” Jango assured them. “My ship’s close. Come on!” 

They let out a small, half-hearted cheer at that, which grew louder as they finally stepped out of the dense forest. Stumbling, they nearly stopped themselves from accidentally tossing themselves over the cliff and into the river below. 

“Wow.” Zam whistled, staring at the cliffs they were standing on. They realized that the cliff they were standing on, as well as the one on the other side, was carved to resemble two warriors. That, on top of the natural beauty the place had to offer, rivaled Naboo on its natural beauty. 

The others were either glaring into the forest, or joining Zam on admiring the scenery. 

But not Jango. No, Jango was staring at one of the weequays amongst them, who was nervously looking at the forest. 

“Jango?” Zam asked, noticing his odd behavior. 

ZAP! 

The weequay shrieked as he fell over, being hit by one of Jango’s stun bolts. 

“Fett?” One of the weequays growled. “What the hell are you-?” 

“Just as I thought.” The Mandalorian muttered, staring at the body. 

POOF! 

The fallen “weequay” suddenly exploded into a small cloud, revealing one of the ANBU guards, who was holding a blaster. Jango snorted, before walking over to the unconscious body. 

“This is why we Mandos have been able to go toe-to-toe with the Jedi for so many years.” He grunted, kicking the blaster towards the weequays while holding the shinobi up by his armpits. “We adapt, we grow, we change, we upgrade. This,” He tapped on his helmet. “Is how I figured out he was an imposter. This guy’s image was flickering, since my helmet detected an unusual frequency of energy off of him. Granted, all of these guys seem to have it, but this guy’s presence was so close and powerful, my helmet started freaking out.” 

He then held up the shinobi, pointing his blaster right up to his temple. 

“I know you guys are out there. If you guys try anything stupid, you’ll lose another one of your men.” 

Silence filled the air for the moment, and Zam wondered if their pursuers backed off. 

Then, a few figures stepping out of the forest. It was the bandaged woman again, but now with a purple-haired lady in a fishnet outfit and a trench coat, a bearded, scruffy looking man, and a man with a bowl haircut and some really thick looking eyebrows. 

“Okay, okay, just don’t kill him.” The bearded man said. “I know that things are looking bad, but please, maybe we can work something out.” 

“We already have what we came for.” Jango’s voice was surprisingly soft and non hostile. “I’m sorry for all of this, but this is just a job. It’s nothing personal.” 

Asuma narrowed his eyes at the armored warrior. 

“I’m going to assume that you won’t be answering much questions about your ‘job,’” The Sarutobi said, “but can you at least tell us what the client wants from Naruto?” 

“Naruto?” Kurenai asked, before her eyebrows shot up. “Wait, Asuma, you’re telling me that Naruto’s in the pod?!”

“Yeah, he is.” Asuma nodded. “Sakura managed to tell me that Hinata saw Naruto inside that pod when she used her Byakugan.” 

Anko and Kurenai tensed up at this. On top of everything else these criminals had done, kidnapping a fellow shinobi was now added to the list. 

“Is that what the target’s called?” Jango said, glancing at the pod momentarily. “If that’s the case, then I now have a name to call him when I deliver him.” 

The Mandalorian then squinted in thought. 

_ ‘Come to think of it, I’m not sure why out of all the data, his name wasn’t included. That actually made the job a little harder.’ _

“You know, as one warrior to another, I’m rather impressed. Your men actually gave me a rather hard time during this entire mission. Reminds me of when I fought the Jedi. Except unlike them, you guys are much faster, slightly less predictable, and much more ruthless.” 

Anko cracked her knuckles. “Wait until I begin with you when I bring you in for interrogation. Then I show you how ruthless I can be.”

“Temping,” Jango chuckled, liking this woman’s attitude, “But I’m afraid that’ll have to wait for another time. Still got a job to finish.” 

“Yeah, not gonna happen, buddy.” Asuma pulled out his trench knives, which made the others tighten their trigger fingers. “We don’t abandon our fellow comrades. That’s not our way.” 

Jango’s eyes scanned the other shinobis’s eyes, and noted the determination in their eyes, despite the grim situation. 

“I see…” Despite the situation, Jango smiled under his helmet. It would seem like these people were more like his old family than he thought. 

He looked down to his wrist gauntlet and saw that its light was flickering. “You guys might want to back off at this point.” Jango warned.

“Like Hell we are!” Anko growled, taking a step forward. 

“Anko!”

But the Snake-Mistress of Konoha wouldn’t listen. Yelling, she prepared to charge at the kidnappers, ready to buy them the necessary distraction they needed to try to save both the hostage and the boy. 

VOOM! 

The loud, sudden roar made everyone freeze in their tracks. 

“About time.” Jango muttered. Appearing from behind the cliff was the  _ Slave I _ , Jango’s newest ship ever since his old one  _ Jaster’s Legacy _ was destroyed, ironically by a ship of the same model as his current one. Even without looking, he knew that Boba and his temporarily guardian was watching over them. 

PEWPEWPEWPEWPEWPEW! 

Jango’s ship rained fire onto the shinobi alongside of the bounty hunters, forcing them to retreat in to the forest. Despite this, they chose to not take a chance, and resumed firing into the trees, making sure that they kept a far enough distance. 

BOOM! 

One of the blasts nearly blew Anko into bits as she flew forwards. She painfully collided with a tree, knocking her out once she hit the floor. 

The ship began to lower itself as its doors opened. 

“Let’s go.” Cad Bane ordered. “Into the ship!”

Zam and the weequays were the first to enter the ship, while Cad Bane and Jango made sure to cover them, as the shinobi have returned, desperate to retrieve their comrade. However, with the ship and the blaster fire keeping them at bay, as well as the hostage Jango was still securing, they was not much they could do. 

“Let’s go, Jango!”

“Right!” The Mandalorian nodded at Zam. Shoving the hostage away from him, he activated his jetpack to fly himself backwards into his ship. Just before the doors closed, however, he saw Asuma’s jacket, which was one that some of the shinobi of the village shared. For the first time ever, he truly looked at the green jacket - or rather, the symbol on his sleeves. It was a symbol that he knew. It was a symbol once mentioned by his old comrades, before they fell to the Jedi. 

It was a whirlpool. A blood, red whirlpool. 

Zam ran up and yanked his arm. “Come on, Jango! Move your ass!” 

Snapped out of his thoughts, he retreated into his ship, leaving behind a few devastated Konoha shinobi, who could do nothing but stare helplessly at the floating ship in the sky. 

* * *

  
  


**[On top of the Hokage Building]**

  
  


“I want all shinobi to be alerted that the village has been attacked.” Tsunade, whose hands were gripping the metal fences tightly. “Contact the Republic at once. Finish rounding up the survivors, and make sure all the wounded gets medical attention.” 

She then turned to the remaining ANBU members. 

“I want the Inuzuka Clan and the Aburame Clan to send a scout team for more potential intruders, as well as to sniff out any more bombs or other possible traps in the area. If you find any of them, I want them in Ibiki’s hands alive!” 

“Yes, ma’am!” They saluted, before they disappeared.” 

“As for the rest of you,” Tsunade turned to the rest of the active shinobi. “I want you all to double all guards, double everything! Make sure nothing like this happens again!” 

“Yes ma’am!” The ANBU commander answered, before he swiftly disappeared, leaving behind the head nurse of the Konoha hospital. 

“Status report.”

“My lady,” The elder nurse bowed. “We’ve brought in all the wounded to the hospital, but we’re running out of room, so we created a temporary field hospital to clear room for the recently wounded who were brought in.”

“Shizune?” Tsunade asked about her apprentice.

“She has already recovered from the experience, and is already on her feet helping the others.” ”

“Good…” Tsunade said, staring blankly at her village. “You’re dismissed.”

“Yes ma’am.” The elder nurse bowed, before swiftly leaving the building, leaving the Hokage on her own. 

Tsunade closed her eyes as she tried to not let tears pool out of them. After being told about the situation, she was beginning to wonder if things would’ve been better off if the Republic never found them. Sure, perhaps it was inevitable, since they “felt” the Kyuubi’s chakra. 

...No, it didn’t matter now. She just lost Naruto, one of her only family members she had left, and she wasn’t sure who was to blame. 

With the Republic arrival, the mighty ship sailing into the new world bringing new people, also came the vermin with it. She had already heard rumors about bounty hunters, smugglers, and all other types of scum already setting into the new world, and she suddenly began to wonder just how often that kind of thing happened. 

With an angry roar, she ripped out the metal railings, throwing them onto the floor of the Hokage Tower roof. She then collapsed onto her knees as she began to punch the floor, bursting into tears as she tried to hold back audible sobs. 

Tsunade, who was now drowning in her grief, did not notice Jiraiya entering the roof. Watching her cry made him clench his fist. 

_ ‘Kami damn it.’ _ He looked away from the blonde, afraid that she would be able to smell his guilt.  _ ‘I was too late.’ _

He had heard all about what had just happened. Criminals - or were they mercenaries? - had come from space, and had kidnapped Naruto. Why? He had no idea, but he would be damned if he did nothing to try to find his godson. 

It would seem like ages before he finally had the courage to step out. Walking up to his old teammate, he expected her to punch him, to wail on him about him being too late. 

Tsunade finally noticed him walking up to her, and stood up. A dark look spread across her face as she walked up to him, her fists clenched. 

_ ‘Whatever happens, I deserve it.’ _ He thought bitterly, closing his eyes in resignation. 

Imagine his surprise when she enveloped him with a hug. Tsunade, who he had thought would’ve punched him across the village, had hugged him instead, sobbing into his shoulder at the loss of another family member. 

Closing his eyes, he decided to hug her back, knowing full well that she needed this. And honestly, he did too. 

_ “As long as we can still feel his bond with us, he is still alive.”  _

Jiraiya sighed and looked up, to the sky and hoping what Fukasaku said was true, that as long Naruto’s name remained on the contract, he’d be still alive.

Jiraiya sighed as he looked up into the sky, hoping that what Fukasaku said was true. 

_ ‘Hold on, kid, we’re coming for you. I promised your father and mother that I’ll look after you, even if its the last thing I do.’ _

  
  


* * *

**[On board the** **_Slave I_ ** **]**

Jango’s ship had already left the orbit of Elementia, and inside of it were the remaining mercenaries. 

The remaining weequays and Zam were grabbing a bite or a drink, a little shaken up at how the job almost went completely sideways, even with the help of Jango and Cad Bane. 

Cad Bane was not amongst them, instead just chewing on a toothpick while staring at the unopened pod. 

“Hey, Zam.” 

Zam stopped drinking as she looked at the duros. “What?”

“The soldier we snatched up is still alive, right? We need him breathing to get our money.”

Zam huffed at the silent accusation. “No you blue prick, I just sedated him.” 

She glanced at the floating pod with a smirk. 

“I injected him with enough anaesthetics to knock out any healthy adult for a good week or so. Even for an active duty superpowered soldier like him, he shouldn’t get up for a while. Why, wanna check if he’s still alive?” 

“...No.” Cad Bane grunted, turning to walk away. “Just wanted to check if you were worth your salt.” He then walked to have a chat with Jango. 

… 

Jango was sitting in the cockpit alongside his son. Punching in the coordinates for their meeting point, he sent his ship into hyperspace. With that being done, he then laid back in his chair, now lost in thought. 

_ ‘That whirlpool...where have I seen it before?’ _ Jango wondered, doing his best to try to remember where he could’ve seen or heard about the symbol. 

“Dad?”

Jango turned to his son, who looked at him with slight concern.

“Are you okay?”

He just nodded at his son, before the sound of someone walking up to him grabbed his attention. 

“Hey.” A pale woman wrapped her arms around Jango’s neck. “Impressive work out there.” 

“Aurra.” Jango greeted, not even bothering to turn his head at the woman. “Thanks for watching over Boba and the ship.” 

“I better get some decent credits out of all this.” Aurra purred into his ear. “I missed out on all the fun babysitting your son.” 

“Don’t lie, I know you managed to clip one of the shinobis while we were boarding the ship.” Jango smirked at her, to which she just shrugged. 

“Save the romance for later.” Another voice echoed the cockpit. Cad Bane walked in, glaring at the two other bounty hunters. “Let’s just focus on getting to our destination.” 

“Right.” Jango sighed, before leaning over to the controls. They fell out of hyperspace, and Jango had to make another calculation to get to their destination, since the first jump was to help cover their tracks. 

Within seconds, the ship disappeared from view, leaping into hyperspace once more. 


	4. C4 - “Ölüm - The Red Grave”

**AU From LW and AL**

**[BD]**

  1. **Yes, we understand the timeline is busted, but for one, it’s fanfiction. Don’t think about it too much. Also, the timeline was gonna be busted anyways, given how we’re going to add Hera and Sabine. The original, which by the way, AL thanks you very much for appreciating, already had a somewhat of a busted timeline due to, again, Sabine and Hera.**



  1. **Yeah, the Republic and the Jedi are being hypocritical. What a surprise, am I right?**



  1. **Chakra sensors are incredible rare in the shinobi world, and even they have to be actively using their ability to sense something wrong. Sure, there’s the Hyuga and the Uchiha, but the Uchiha are pretty much gone, and Sasuke’s chakra is sealed so that he doesn’t run off. The Hyuga are kept to themselves, so there’s that.**



  1. **And then you gotta consider the fact that the crew focused mainly on retreating. Even Jango and Cad Bane were running for their lives the entire time. They purposely divided the shinobi via destruction and chaos, which meant less pursuers for the entire team. As calculated, most of them were too focused on evacuating the civilians and the wounded, and the handful that noticed them were being fended off with bombs and blaster shots, which the bounty hunters spammed to keep them at bay. The actual numbers of shinobi they managed to kill was only a few, and those were lucky kills.**



**(About the Child Soldier Hypocrisy)**

**The last few chapters took place before the Clone Wars, but after** **_The Phantom Menace_ ** **. Also, Padme didn’t have much choice when fighting during the events of the** **_TPM_ ** **.**

**(The Harem)**

**Yeah, I kinda wanted to tell myself, but the author said no, so too bad, so sad. On the plus side, at least you’ll always be on your toes, wondering who’ll be the lucky guy/girl that’ll be in his harem.**

**…**

**LW: I hope that satisfies your questions for now. Onto the story!**

**Also, just a heads up, the next few chapters are gonna get pretty dark, which involves slavery and abuse of many kinds.**

* * *

**[???]**

Danzo Shimura, to be blunt, was not what you would call a “good person.” He himself admitted to that many times when he woke up, staring at himself in the mirror with the “prizes” he collected over the years. 

Still, one never achieved great things by being a pacifist. One never achieved great things without kicking up some dust and cracking a few eggs. One never achieved great things without making some sacrifices. 

_‘Everything I do is for the sake of the village.’_ That happened to be Danzo’s motto, as well as the justification for everything he has done. From starting wars in an effort to destroy the rivaling villages, to kidnapping children to build up his ROOT army, he has done many things that, from time to time, would make Danzo feel slightly guilty. 

_‘Besides,’_ He walked up to the large holotransceiver in the middle of the room. _‘There’s no turning back.’_

He pushed a few buttons, and waited for the message to come through. After almost a minute of waiting, a large hologram sprouted from the machine. 

_“I assume that the plan was a success.”_ The old, cloaked man spoke to Danzo. 

“You would be correct, Lord Sidious.” Danzo nodded. “I do hope that you would fulfill your end of the bargain once you get what you need from the boy. I have taken many risks to help make this day happen.” 

_“Of course I will, Danzo.”_ The Lord of the Sith nodded in return. _“We would both benefit from this project of ours. I learn more about the secrets of chakra, and you would get your army of Uzumaki clones, as well as the boy himself, reconditioned to your liking.”_

“And I would continue to search for any more force-sensitives on this planet.” Danzo finished. 

_“Precisely.”_ Sidious smiled, showing his yellow teeth. _“I’m glad we are on the same page. Now, if you excuse me, I must get going._ ” 

And with that, the holotransmission ended, leaving Danzo alone in the intelligence room with his ROOT guards. After a minute of silence, he turned and left the room. 

* * *

**[Mos Eisley, Tatooine]**

If one talked about planets outside of the reach of the Republic, Tatooine is often the first planet that comes to mind. 

Once a planet full of oceans and rainforests, it is now a husk of its former self, the planet now being known for being a hot, barren wasteland, as well as the poverty and corruption that goes on there. 

It’s also known for Jabba the Hutt being the tyrannical ruler of the planet, with his influence and power being so great that even the Republic does nothing about his open presence there. 

Mos Eisley was one of the few cities that existed in the wasteland, especially one that had a few spaceports. It was a city full of scumbags in many forms. Bounty hunters, smugglers, fugitives, slave traders, they all roamed free in this city, with murder and sometimes even rape being very common in the city. 

Overall, much like the planet itself, it was pretty much a lawless land. 

Inside of Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina, Jango and his team were busy killing time by getting some food and drinks while waiting for Dooku’s goons to arrive with their money. It was easy to say that some of them were already under the alcohol's influence. 

This was scene by the four remaining weequays, who were clearly drunk out of their minds. They were sitting on the other side of the bar, due to some Twi’lek dancers giving them some sultry looks and poses. They were already trying to suck them dry of their credits, which was witnessed by Jango, Boba, Aurra Sing, and Cad Bane. 

Zam volunteered to stay behind at the ship to guard it. After all, you can’t ever be too careful in Tatooine. 

“Morons.” Cad Bane glared at the weequays, disgusted at their behavior. “At this rate, we’ll have to drag them back to the ship alongside our credits.” 

“My my, Bane,” Aurra chuckled at the duros. “Since when were you concerned about the wellbeings of others?” 

“I’m not.” Cad Bane growled at her. “I just don’t want them attracting more attention to us than we already have.” He eyed some of the patrons, who immediately looked away from them. “The last thing I want is that idiot Greedo to notice us if he’s here.” 

“Seriously?” Jango turned to him. “Out of all the bounty hunters in this galaxy, you’re concerned about Greedo?”

“He’s a slippery bastard.” Cad Bane growled, as he did not like the Rodian very much. “Always a pain in our asses.” 

Boba turned to his dad. “What does he mean, dad?”

Aurra just laughed, tapping on Boba’s head. “Nothing for you to worry about, Boba. Just drink your milk and be a good boy.” She teased the boy while drinking her glass.

Boba glared at her lightly, before feeling someone tap on his shoulder. He looked up at his dad, and saw her nod at her. 

“You’ll learn soon, Boba. I promise you that.”

Boba smiled at his father and nodded back at him. “Right.”

Just then, a small beeping sound erupted from their table. They all checked their communication devices, and found that it came from Aurra. 

Answering her com, she received a quick transmission that ended swiftly. 

“So?

“They’ve arrived.” 

“Where?” Cad Bane asked, eager to finish this job. 

“They just send me the coordinates.” Aurra replied, putting her device back into her pocket. “It’s not that far from here.”

“Where?” Jango was the next to ask. 

“The Center Port, the big one that never finished construction.” That wasn’t far from their current location, just a few blocks down the road. 

“Okay, we’ll go there.” Jango said turning to his son. “Boba.”

“Yeah, dad?”

“...Stay close to me.” Jango finally said, making Boba’s eyes widen. “Keep aware of your surroundings, and always be ready for your blaster.”

“O-okay” Boba nearly squealed with joy, which made Aurra roll her eyes in the background, although a small smile could’ve help make her way into her lips. They all got up, and walked to the exit, with Jango walking over to collect the drunken weequays. 

“We’re going.” Jango told them sternly. “Get your act together.”

The pirates groaned and grumbled, but didn’t argue with him, reluctantly pulling themselves away from the twi’leks. Making sure to throw their money, they staggered towards the exit. 

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the group, they did indeed attract some unwanted attention. A group of people glare at the group as they left, as they had some unfinished business with some of them… 

… 

They returned to the _Slave I_ , where Zam was patiently waiting for them. After retrieving the pod, they walked back to the meeting point. 

To their relief, they managed to get there without any issues, save for the weequays stumbling and babbling, to which they had to remind them to shut up. 

Eventually making it to their destination, they began to split into small groups, scattering themselves around the meeting point in case it was a trap. 

Jango and Bane were together, scanning the area for either potential enemies or their clients. 

“So Jango,” Cad Bane tipped his hat. “You got something you wanna talk about?”.”

“...You can always tell when I got things on my mind, Bane.” Jango sighed, not denying it whatsoever. 

“You talking about the moment when we found out the target was actually a kid?” Bane guessed.

Jango didn’t say anything for a while, before he continued. “I still can't believe that all that trouble was just for a kid.”

“A soldier, to be correct.” Bane stated. “If you read the information about that planet, you would know that the use of children in their military is the norm in their culture.” Bane scoffed. “Just be happy that we didn’t run into one of those brats.” 

Jango then turned to the blue-skinned bounty hunter. “Would you really shoot one of those kids if you had to?” 

Cad Bane turned towards him, with a blank look on his face. “Would you?” 

The two men fell into silence, suddenly unable to answer each others questions for a moment. 

“...I’m just doing this to get paid, Jango.” Cad Bane finally said, before taking a few steps away from him. “I do whatever I need to do to get my credits.” He then squinted at him. “But what’s it with you? You don’t care about the boy, do you?” 

“...Not exactly.” Jango finally said. “It’s more about that village.” 

“What about it?” Bane snorted. “Since when were you worried about making enemies? It’s just an occupational hazard.”

“No, not that.” Jango waved him off. “I was talking about the whirlpool patch on their shoulders and backs.” 

“So?”

Jango was about to go further on the topic, when they were interrupted by the sound of engines. Looking up, they saw a small ship that was growing closer to them. 

“About time they’ve showed up.” Bane muttered, before walking towards the incoming shuttle with the pod, leaving Jango on his own as the ship began to descend upon them..

The Sheathipede shuttle took a moment to land as it turned around, before its landing claws came out, connecting to the ground. 

The doors slid open, revealing a group of B1 battle droids. Two of them stepped out, their blasters in their metal hands, and six more soon followed, with two of them carrying two metal bags of credits. 

The last one to follow them were two Neimoidians in their traditional clothing. Green skinned and red-eyed, the two of them cowered at the gazes of the bounty hunters, which made Cad Bane scoff. 

Clearing his throat, one of the Neimoidians stepped up to the Mandalorian. 

“You must be the one who goes by Jango Fett.” He extended his hand, to which Jango reluctantly took. “I’ve been informed that you are the one I should meet.” 

“You got the credits for us?” Jango simply asked. 

“Of course, just as your employer has promised.” The Neimoidian clicked his fingers. The two droids opened the suitcases and revealed a very impressive amount of credit chips.

“As promised, here are your credits.” The Neimoidian said. “Now. The child.”

“...We got him.” Jango roughly answered as the weequay mercenaries started escorting the pod to the middle of the area.

“Show it to me.”

Jango turned to one of the weequay and nodded. One push of a button, and the pod opened up, revealing a still unconscious and bandaged Naruto, who was still sedated from Zam’s drug. 

“Excellent.” The Neimoidian hummed as he inspected the boy. “I see you’ve proven your job well done, bounty hunters.” 

“The pay.” Cad Bane reminded them, who was growing rather impatient.

“Of course.” He clicked his fingers again, and the droids moved forward, nervously placing the suitcases in front of the bounty hunters for Aurra to pick up, before walking back.

“Lord Tyranus will be more than pleased by your performance.” The Neimoidian complemented as the weequay pushed the pod to the droids, who closed it promptly. “He hopes that you can be of great service to him again.” 

“If he needs me to invade another planet with no information about its culture or military to kidnap a kid again, tell him I said no.” Jango grunted as he turned around, walking towards the exit with the others. 

The Neimoidian took no notice of the last comment, and turned to the yellow-patterned battle droid. “Bring the specimen into the ship.”

“Roger, Roger.” The droid replied before ordering his troops. “You heard him, move the subject Naruto Uzumaki into the ship.”

A pair of legs stopped moving. Jango froze in place as he heard the last name.

Cad Bane turned around to notice his rival wasn’t moving. “What’s the matter, Jango?”

The Mandalorian’s helmet slowly turned back towards the ship, staring at the young boy that he had helped send to his doom. 

“Jango.” Aurra called him out. “Come on, we’ve got our credits.”

Jango just continued walking towards the ship, his hand dangerously close to his blasters.

“Dad?”

The Mandalorian said nothing as he grew closer to the Separatists. 

Just before anyone could do or say anything, a loud voice filled the air. 

“Greetings, my friends!” 

Everyone froze as they looked up at the balcony, seeing a group of armed men standing on the other side of the port. Their blasters and rocket launchers were aimed at them, causing everyone to tense up. 

“Zygerrians.” Jango growled as his blasters were aimed at them. “What do those scumbags want?” 

“We want no trouble with you bounty hunters or you Separatists.” The leader of the group declared. “Well, not exactly true with the first one. You see, those...drunken fools,” He glared at the weequays, who were shakingly aiming their blasters at them. “Have crossed with us in the past, stealing our shipments of spice. All we want is those idiots, and everyone can go on their merry way.” 

One of the drunken weequay spat at them. “Screw you, you slaving bastards! Go back to your bitch queen and tell her to suck it!” 

“What did you just say?!” The zygerrians growled in anger. 

The drunken weequay pulled out a blaster at them. “Eat this!”

PEW!

The guy next to the Zygerrian speaker got shot through the chest, shocking everyone. 

And that’s when all hell broke loose...again. 

BOOM! 

The droids and the Neimodians screamed as they were flown forward, their ship blown up by a rocket launcher, courtesy of the zygerrians. 

POW! POW! POW! PEW! PEW! PEW! 

Within seconds, the entire landing platform became a battlefield, with missiles and blaster bolts flying like mad. 

One of the weequays took a bolt to the shoulder, causing him to fall down behind the metal box he was hiding behind. The crap talker, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky, as he got hit by blaster fire first in the gut, chest, and then the head, which ended his life. The other two weequay managed to take cover behind the pillars, and now sobering up a little, their aim grew much better as they grew more determined to survive this battle..

“Damn bastards took out N’agel!” One of the weequay behind the pillar roared, before cursing at them. “Catch this, you Zyg bastards!” He got out from his cover and started firing at the slavers at the balcony who were forced to take cover.

“Where the kriff are the others?!” One of the weequays hissed, clutching his shoulder. 

Meanwhile, Cad Bane and the others were just standing by the sidelines, not trying to get involved in this firefight, but the firefight made their only exit unreachable. Plus, if they tried to escape via flying, they would become an easy target, especially if they had to carry someone out of there. 

Zam took cover beside Aurra behind a box and commented, “Looks like we’re stuck here. Any suggestions?” A blaster shot flew past her, nearly hitting her.

“Well, this isn’t our problem, so I say we let them take care of each other.” Aurra just shrugged, while keeping her fingers on his blasters. “Why get into someone else’s business when it’s clearly none of ours?” 

Cad Bane, who was ducking behind a cargo box with Boba, noticed that someone wasn’t there with them. “Anyone seen Jango?” 

FWOOM!

The familiar sound of a jetpack going off made Boba look out from his hiding spot. 

“Look! He’s fighting!” The other three bounty hunters turned to look at what Boba meant, and were equally surprised and at awe at what they were seeing. 

Jango was flying in the air, dodging blaster fire from the Zygerrians as he was firing back at them, causing the group to scatter. 

“Its Jango Fett! Somebody kill him!” One of slavers warned.

Landing on the ground, he began to dodge and hide from the bullets. His helmet warning him of a threat from above, he looked up and saw a zygerrian aiming a rifle at him. Smirking, he fired a single bolt at his would-be sniper, and he fell from the rooftop, dead before he hit the ground. 

_‘One down, three more to go.’_ Jango thought, his helmet scanning the three surviving zygerrians. 

His eyes widened as he detected one of them holding a rocket launcher, which was aimed directly at him. 

“Dodge this!” The zygerrian roared, before he pulled the trigger. 

_‘Kriff!’_ Jango thought as he pushed a button on his gauntlet. 

FWOOM! FWOOM! BOOM! 

The second the zygerrian launched his rocket, Jango did the same, firing his missile from his jetpack. The two missiles collided with each other, creating an explosion that sent people and debris flying in opposite directions. 

… 

The wounded weequay panted as he could nothing but continue to hide like a coward. He watched as his two remaining friends were struggling against the Zygs. He wished he could help them, but his shooting arm was injured, and it hurt like hell to even move it. 

One of his friends, which was too far to help, shouted, “Shahan! You alright?!” 

Shahan hissed as he shifted his body. “I’m fine! Had better days!” 

“Hold on, we’re getting you out of here!”

The zygerrian with the rocket launcher took notice of the shouting, and grinned, turning his weapon toward the pillars the two weequays were hiding behind. He had one last rocket, and he figured that he’d use it on getting revenge for the loss of the spice shipment. 

Shahan took another peak, and saw the zyg with the heavy artillery. “Guys, get out of there!”

FWOOSH!

Time seemed to slow down for the weequay as the zygerrian fired his weapon, the missile flying towards the pillar. The two weequays screamed as they tried to move out of the way, but it was too late. 

BOOM! 

The pillar exploded, sending a wave of fire and debris flying everywhere. Shahan covered his ears as the explosion nearly deafened him. Slowly opening his eyes, he coughed as he saw the wreckage. 

Shaking, his eyes finally fell on the remains of his friends, whose expressions of horror was still etched into his face. 

Horror turned to rage as Shahan began to see red. 

“You bastards!” Shahan roared, grabbing his blaster with his other arm, and aimed at the zygerrians. .

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

Unfortunately, Shahan never shot with his left arm, and thus, his shots never hit their target. Still, that didn’t stop him as he continued to fire at the zygerrians in rage. 

“You filthy pirating scum! Do you know who you were stealing from?!” The zygerrians roared at him from behind their pillars. 

“I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t give a damn!” The last weequay of the group shouted back. “The name’s Shahan Alama, and I’m gonna kill you all! Come and get me!” 

“Why you!-”

PEW! 

A blaster shot flew out of nowhere, hitting one of the zygerrians in the face. Slumping over, everyone turned to look at the shooter, revealing it to be the Mandalorian bounty hunter, who was behind the destroyed shuttle. 

POW! POW! POW! POW! 

Two more zygerrians, who came to reinforce them, fell from the rooftop, with a blaster burn on their chests. Falling with a loud CRUNCH!, they continued to groan, to which Jango shot their heads to end their life. 

CLUNK. CLUNK. CLUNK.

Jango turned towards the source of the noise, and his eyes widened at the metal, beeping ball of death. 

KA-BOOM!

Jango was sent flying by the explosion. He landed on his jetpack quite painfully, and it sparked from the damage. One of the zygerrians had thrown a thermal detonator, which would’ve killed him, had it not for his reflexes and his armor. 

_‘Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like hell.’_ Jango groaned. He was pretty sure that his durasteel armor didn’t completely protect him, and he was pretty sure that the blast had broken a few bones and scorched his skin. 

“You know, Mr. Fett,” The leader of the group walked up to his fallen body. “I’ve never had the pleasure of killing a Mandalorian. Now, not only can I proudly say that I’ve slain one of your kind, but I can even keep your armor as the trophy.” 

Jango tried to move, but his body felt weak, and his armor suddenly felt a million times heavier. He struggled to get up, but he failed to even lift his head, his armor now becoming his undoing. 

The zygerrian smirked, kicking away the Mandalorian’s blasters, before he turned back to the pod. 

“I wonder what’s so special about that pod anyways that was worth your interference and all this trouble.” The zygerrian pondered out loud. “I noticed that you could’ve left with your friends a long time ago, but instead, you chose to stay here. Is it loyalty to your pirate friends...or is it the human in the pod?” 

Jango cursed under his breath. His eyes darted to the pod, which was being taken by the surviving zygerrians. 

“Well, the fun ends here.” The zygerrian smirked, aiming his blaster at the human’s neck. 

“Hey boss, check this out!” One of his men said. They made to back behind the pillars when something of interest came up. 

“What is it?” He growled, wanting to end this bounty hunter’s life. 

“It says this boy is from...Elementia.” The Zygerrian read it out loud, catching the leader's attention.

“Elementia?” His growl turned into smile of interest. “I’ve heard that those humans are supposed to be super strong.” The zygerrian turned back towards the Mandalorian. “Looks like this trip wasn’t a complete waste after all.”

Jango wished he could do anything. Strangle the bastard. Slit his throat. Shove a thermal detonator into his mouth. But his body was still too hurt to even move his arm, and even if he could, he would never be fast enough to take him on properly. 

“Take it back to the ship, now.” He ordered his men. “He’ll make a fine addition to the spice mines.” They nodded, before they quickly took off, leaving the Zygerrian alone with the injured Mandalorian. 

“If you dare put a hand on the boy-”

“Pssh, don’t pretend to care about the boy, Mr. Fett.” The zygerrian snorted. “If you did, he wouldn’t be in this situation now, would he? Besides, think of it as a fair compensation for the spice those idiots stole.” 

And with that, he raised his blaster again. 

PEW! 

The zygerrian’s grin stayed on his face, before he fell over, a smoking hole coming out of his head. Cad Bane and the rest of his crew stepped out of the shadows, with the duros holding a smoking blaster. 

“We’re even now, Jango.” Bane simply said. “Now, why don’t you go help out your father, boy?” 

Cad Bane’s sentence was barely uttered before Boba took off for his father. 

“Dad, are you alright?” He asked, worried to death. His father groaned as he struggled to get up. Seeing this, Boba gingerly helped his father to his feet. 

“No, son, I’m not alright.” He winced, slowly holstering his blasters after Boba picked them up for him. 

Noting how Jango was clutching at his ribs, Boba immediately commed Zam to prepare a bacta bath. Unbeknownst to him, however, this wasn’t the reason why Jango said he wasn’t alright. 

_‘What have I done?’_ Jango thought wearily, staring at the spot where the pod used to be. _‘Jaster, I hope you can forgive me…”_

  
  


A plummet of black smoke was visible in the air, coming out of one of the ports. This, alongside of the firefight that had occurred not that long ago, attracted some attention, since it was rather hard to not notice. Despite this, the people wisely chose to avoid the area for a while, nor were they foolish enough to dig their noses into it. 

A few minutes after the firefight had ended, a YV-865 Aurore-class freighter just took off. 

Inside of the freighter was a team of zygerrians, which included the survivors of the fight they had with the bounty hunters. 

The leader, who was the zygerrian with a purple convor bird on his shoulder, scowled at the survivors, then at the pod. 

“Can someone explain just what the kriff happened back there?” 

“We took care of those bastards that stole our spice. You know, the guys we told you about from the cantina?” One of them explained. “Unfortunately, they were in the middle of a business transaction with the Separatists, and things got violent. They were with a team, and they gave us a hard time, even killing your second-in-command.”

“Regrettable.” D’Nar frowned. “But at least we sent a message to that slimeball, Hondo.” 

His eyes then traveled back to the pod. “That being said, what’s with the pod there?” 

“Right, about that...” He replied, pointing at the stolen pod. “Open it up!”

The zygerrian’s partner opened up the pod, and carelessly shoved the blond boy out of it. 

“We’ve found this boy being given to the Separatists. Seeing as how those those bastards died from the fight, they won’t be missing this after all. It’s one of those ‘supers’ from that new planet, Elementia.” He explained, with D’Nar’s expression changing from anger to one of interest. 

“I see. Good work.” He nodded at his men, before examining the boy for himself. He inspected the boy, and seeing as how he was in good health, he let out a grin. His eyes then traveled to his stomach, which was now exposed from the fall. Pushing aside the thin, hospital gown, he stared at the strange tattoo that was on the boy’s navel.” 

“Does the data say anything about these strange markings?”

“Um,” His men immediately began to recheck the data. “No, sir. It mentions nothing about it.” 

“I see.” D’Nar’s expression grew into a smirk. “No matter. He’ll make a perfect addition to my collection.” 

“Sir?”

“I’ve decided to keep it.” D’Nar chuckled. “He’ll be useful in what he’s going to do for me now. Put it inside with the rest.”

One of them grabbed Naruto by the shirt, and started dragging him further inside the ship like a ragdoll. 

It was then that the ship disappeared from view, entering hyperspace. By that time, Jango would have entered his ship, taking a dip into a bacta tank, while Boba did his best to try to find the zygerrian’s ship. 

However, by the time they even discovered where they had parked their ship, it would be far too late. 

… 

CRASH! 

Naruto’s body was roughly thrown into a large cage. Still unconscious, the boy’s neck was now outfitted with a collar. 

“Sleep all you want, boy. Once you wake up you’ll be working hard like the rest of them.” D’Nar sneered to the still sedated boy, before going towards the cockpit, laughing all the way to himself.

The cage next to Naruto’s was very silent, with the large, purple man inside of it having overheard everything. His green eyes moved to his new roommate, and sighed when he took a good look at the boy. 

“Karabast.”

* * *

**[Inside the Seal]**

Kurama, who had witnessed everything that was happening so far, frowned at how everything turned out. 

**“So this is where the Force led him.”** Kurama muttered to himself. **“Interesting. While I can’t see into the future like that old fart can, even I can tell that this will lead to something interesting.”**

Could he have done more to help? Sure. While he couldn’t do much unless the boy was in life-threatening danger, was wounded, or if Naruto himself was accessing his chakra, he could’ve still tried to purge the drug out of his system. Remembering Yoda’s words, however, he chose not to, wanting to see where this would go. 

Besides, this was a pretty good way to give the finger to not only that damned Uchiha asshole that used him that many years ago, but also to Konoha itself. 

**“We’ll see how you grow, Uzumaki. I do want to know whether this place will make you, or break you. In the meantime, let’s start getting rid of this stupid drug.”**

And with that, the sewer shook as a pulse of his chakra was sent throughout the boy’s body. 

* * *

*GASP!*

Naruto’s eyes shot open, and he sat right up. 

CLUNK! 

“Ow…” Naruto hissed, rubbing his head. He banged his head on something, which hurt like hell. 

Blinking, his eyes widened as he realized that something was wrong. For one, he wasn’t in the hospital anymore. Two, he was in a cage, with a collar around his neck. 

_‘Okay, the last thing I remember was Shizune...no, that wasn’t Shizune. Whoever that was, she attacked the nurse with something, and injected something into me...Oh crap.’_

“Looks like you’re finally figuring it out, kid.” A deep voice came from his left. 

“H-huh?!” Startled, Naruto began to look around, searching for the source of the voice. “Who said that?” 

“Quiet, kid. You don’t wanna yell in this situation. Also, I’m right next to you.” 

Squinting, his eyes began to adjust in the dimly lit building...or wherever they were. Blinking, he began to realize that he was talking to a large, hairy creature, with strange, green eyes, who smelled kinda bad. 

“Woah, are you a summoning creature?” Naruto asked. The said creature blinked, before raising an eyebrow. 

“Umm, kid, I have no idea what that is, but no. I’m a Lasat, and the name is Garazeb. Garazeb Orrelios.” 

“Uhm…” Naruto just dumbly responded, still processing the fact that an ape-like creature was speaking to him normally like a human. 

“Nevermind.” The lasat rolled his eyes at the kid, and then looked at the direction of the cockpit. “I heard we’re going to be working in the spice mines on Kessel, so we’ll be stuck together. You can call me Zeb. What’s your name?”

“My name? Its Naruto.” He told the ape-like creature. “Wait a minute. Kessel Mines? What’s that, and what are we going to do there?” 

Zeb looked at the kid with a raised eyebrow. “Never heard of Kessel? Which planet did you grow up in, kid?”

“Elementia.” Naruto answered after a second. “My - or, I guess our - planet just made contact with the Republic or something. They’re the ones that gave it that name.” 

  
  


“Huh, so you’re from that newly discovered planet. Explains a lot.” Zeb noted to himself. “I’m going to be blunt, kid, we’re going to be forced to mine spice for these bastards as slaves.” 

“A-as slaves?!” Naruto shouted, grabbing at his collar. “I-I can’t be! I’ve got so much to do! I-”

ZAPPPPP!

“AAAH!” Naruto screamed as his collar released an enormous amount of electricity into his body. He fell over, his hands twitching at his sides as he tried to recover from the electrocution. 

“Be silent, boy!” One of the zygerrian slavers yelled at Naruto.

Naruto’s glare never wavered as he stared at the zygerrian in the eyes. “Screw...you.”

ZAPPPPP!

Naruto screeched in pain as the collar him again. Hearing his screams put a smile to the zygerrian..

After a few more seconds, he let go of the button, allowing Naruto to breathe again. “I’ve learned much about your people, child.” 

The blond boy, who was still somehow conscious, slowly turned his head towards his tormentor. 

“It’s magnificent, really. Your people’s culture.” The furry man said while petting his bird. “I was already planning on going to your planet myself, but you...you just happened to fall right onto my lap. I will be fully invested in the plans I have for you, child. It won’t be long before you’ll be bowing to me.” 

Grunting in immense pain, Naruto bit his teeth while staring at him as he was being looked down upon by this man. 

“I don’t care what you do, you weird cat. But I will not bow down to anybody!” 

Growling at his persistent attitude, he lifted his small remote, and pushed the button. 

ZAPPPP!

“URK!” Another wave of electricity spread throughout his body again, the collar’s power trying to force him into submission. Seeing no progress, D’Nar decided to raise the power. 

“You will soon learn your place, slave.” D’Nar told him with a sickening grin. “You might have the blood of a warrior, but like every one, you’ll be broken, and I’ll make you submit to your betters.” And with that, he finally let go of the button. 

Naruto, who was still on his knees, finally fell over. D’Nar leaned in a little, and when he discovered that he was still breathing, he left, satisfied with the results. 

Meanwhile, Zeb just looked at him with sadness, tugging at his own collar. 

* * *

**[Jedi Temple]**

Yoda sat alone in the Jedi Council Chamber. Frowning, he began to reflect at the recent developments that was occuring on the two planets of Earth and Elementia. 

The result was predictable. Many of the independent countries on Earth have either decided to join the Republic or the Separatists. The reason for this divide was due to some of the political problems they already had. Most of the strongest, independent countries have chosen to join the Republic, while the others either joined the Separatists or wished to remain neutral. 

Elementia held nearly the exact same results. Konoha was the first to join the Republic, followed by Suna, which had recently re-negotiated their ties with its former ally, and was also in the process of negotiating with the Republic. 

Meanwhile, Iwa and Kumo had decided to join the CIS within moments after they were given the offer, due to their poor relationship with the Leaf Village. Kiri, meanwhile, was still in the midst of its own political war, with both the Republic and the CIS hesitant to enter. 

Then there was the other, much smaller villages, like Kusa, Taki, and the others. Most, if not all of them, were forced to pick one side or the other, due to their neighboring villages, or the other allies they had, save for Amegakure, who closed themselves off from the rest of the world. 

This pretty much reflected the current situation of the galaxy, with it being split into three factions (with the third being the Neutral Systems.) To make matters worse, the Force didn’t seem to be with them at the moment, with more and more visions becoming unclear or blurred. 

The doors slid open, and Mace Windu entered the room. “Master Yoda.” 

“Master Windu.” The small, green Jedi nodded to him. 

“I need to speak with you.” The master said to him. “It’s important.”

“Hm, speak with me here, you can.” Yoda nodded, choosing to stay in his seat. 

“It’s about the other Jedi. They’re asking questions about the Memory Holocron you showed us.” 

“Go on.” Yoda said. 

“As you may know by now, many of the padawans, knights, and even masters, have been researching in the archives about this. They’ve discovered that the Sith like Darth Bane have lived in a different era than yours, with Bane in particular belonging in the era of the Old Republic, which was almost three millennia ago.” 

“Questions everybody has, I assume.” Yoda closed his eyes in thought. “Answer, I do have. Unpleasant, they are, however.” 

Mace raised his eyebrow at this, before narrowing them, already beginning to guess the answer. 

Yoda dug into his robes, pulling out the Memory Holocron. 

“Forbidden knowledge, the Dark Side offers.” Yoda said, staring at his holocron. “Immortality, some might say, it can offer. Raising the dead, it can also do.” 

“Raising the dead?” Mace Windu’s eyes widened. “You’re not saying-” 

“Dead, those Sith were.” Yoda nodded grimly. “Called them from the grave, that Kaguya woman has.” 

Before the conversation could continue, the doors suddenly opened.

“MASTERS!”

They turned towards the doors and saw that it was Padawan Skywalker who just ran in, much to the dismay of Mace Windu.

“Skywalker, don’t you see that we're in a conversation?” Master Windu sternly glared at the Padawan. “You better have a reason for barging in like this.”

Anakin took a moment to breathe before rising up. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Masters. But I came here telling you urgent news coming from the Hidden Leaf Village.” 

Yoda turned towards the padawan with immediate focus.

“It's been attacked by bounty hunters.” Anakin informed them. “Their village leader has requested the presence of Master Yoda.”

Mace Windu turned to the Grand Master, who was now getting up from his seat. 

“Go now, I must. Join me, if you wish.” Yoda offered to his fellow master. “Skywalker, pass this news to your master Obi Wan, you must.” 

“I will master,” Anakin said watching the Master Yoda leave the two jedi behind to walk on his own.

“I will, Master Yoda.” Anakin bowed, watching the two masters leave. After watching them disappear, he ran to inform the others of this unfortunate news. 

* * *

**[Inside the Seal]**

SPLASH! 

Kurama watched as Naruto’s body fell from the dark ceiling. Landing in the water, Naruto’s groaned as he began to recover from the torture he had just endured from those beast-men. 

Meanwhile for Kurama, he was in his meditation position and had his hands clapped against each other with his eyes closed and the energy spiralling out of him.

Staring at the boy’s fallen form, Kurama let out a sigh. 

**“It’s nothing personal, kid. Even if you asked me to, I’m not gonna help you. Not until you prove me worthy of my help. I don’t know if this is part of the Force or not, but unless you can grow stronger from this, I’m not going to step in - much.”**

Kurama snorted, a gust of air disturbing the water below him. 

**“I’ve already done enough by giving you the ability to read, speak, and understand Basic.”** Kurama continued, uncaring whether or not the boy was listening to him. **“From here on out, you’re on your own.”**

A pulse of his chakra shot out like a fast wave, and Naruto’s body stopped twitching, relaxing as his body began to recover from the electrocution much faster. 

Just then, Kurama looked up, hearing the voices of the zygerrians growing louder. 

**“If you thought that your life has been Hell so far, then it’s time that you learn the true meaning of suffering.”** Kurama grunted. **“I’m counting on you to not die. I’m counting on you to survive, to grow, to adapt, and to strike, when the time is right. What you do from there, be it for good or for bad, will be up to you.”**

The voices of the slavers grow louder and angrier, and Kurama knew that he didn’t have much more time left to speak his thoughts. 

**“You probably don’t remember all those years of suffering, especially that night, especially since the Third Hokage made sure to seal away the memories, but you probably will soon.”** Kurama grimly stated. **“Living in the slums, taking your first life, and especially that night when those bastards were close to taking your life? That’s the night where the villagers really learned to make sure to keep their hands off of you. But the damage was done, and it’ll probably be redone soon.”**

Naruto’s body began to fade away as he was being brought to consciousness. 

**“Time to get up, boy. Time for you to prove your worth as a warrior. As a child of the Uzumakis. As a descendant of Mandalore.”**

  
  


Naruto gasped as he woke back up. Scrambling to his knees (while being careful to not bump his head again), he glanced back at the cage where the other guy was in. 

“Zeb?” 

The cage was empty.

“Zeb? Where are yo-ACK!” Naruto didn’t get to finish his sentence as a hand roughly grabbed his collar. Choking, Naruto struggled to breathe, barely acknowledging the fact that he was being dragged away to kami-knows-where. 

Just as Naruto thought that he was going to black out again, he was roughly thrown forward, and the air - as stale and dirty as it was, - mercifully returned to his lungs. 

CLINCH. CLICK.

Naruto blinked, and he realized that one of those hairy bastards put one what he assumed to be the future version (or should he say modern version now?) of handcuffs. 

“Don’t worry about your hair friend, slave.” D’Nar walked up with him with a chuckle, his hands behind his back in an authoritative manner. “You’ll be joining him in the mines soon enough. Just like him, you’ll soon learn your place.” 

Naruto shot him a glare, which matched D’Nar’s fierce one. Not caring once again about the collar around his neck, Naruto leaned his head back. 

PTOO! 

D’Nar blinked, and he realized that the human boy had just spit on his shoes. 

Letting out a roar of rage, he kicked Naruto’s face, before stomping on it. Much to his frustration, the boy refused to scream or cry out, which only served to further anger him. 

“You whiskered freak! I will make sure to make _your_ life a living nightmare! Perhaps your family would like to join you? Wouldn’t talk back as much, would you?!”

Hearing this, Naruto simply let out a small chuckle. 

“Heh, my family’s dead, asshole. Why don’t you just kill me so that I can join them?” 

D’Nar’s sharp teeth gritted together as his fingers twitched at the blaster at his side. 

… 

Kessel was a planet in the edges of the galaxy. All but ignored by the Republic, the criminals of the underworld took advantage of their willful negligence, and used slave labor to harvest spice and other resources from the planet. 

Perhaps at one point it was a beautiful planet, but whatever beauty it may once held was forever tainted by the cruelty of people, with the planet itself suffering from the dark vices of the sentients. Dirty smoke often filled the skies, with the air being barely breathable enough for both the slavers and the slaves. 

Speaking of, the new slaves were being transported to the planet, with the slaves being shamefully pushed and prodded towards their new masters and their new workplace. Overlooking this process was the Pyke Syndicates, who watched the newcomers carefully. Despite the Zygerrian Empire constantly doing business with them, it was the Pykes that truly dominated this planet. 

“YEAARGH!”

Everyone, both the slaves and their slavers, froze as they heard the loud scream. Turning their heads simultaneously, they watched a young blond, human boy fly out of a freighter, being thrown by an angered D’Nar. 

D’Nar let out a loud growl as he walked up towards the fallen new slave, who was coughing and wheezing, trying to get back on his feet. Not giving him the chance to do so, he proceeding to kick him in the ribs again, making an example out of him in front of the other slaves. 

  
  


After five more minutes of continuous beating, D’Nar finally stopped, now out of breath, but still looking just as angry as ever, watching Naruto cough out blood. Although admittedly impressed by the boy’s endurance, he knew that if he went any further, he would kill the boy, which would’ve been counterproductive. Leaving the boy to the Pyke Syndicates, he walked over to the other Pykes to have a discussion with them. 

“Get him up.” One of the Pyke Sentinels ordered the slaves, and the brave volunteers eventually walked forward to do so. 

“Hey kid, you alright?”

“Huh?” Naruto’s eyes finally fluttered open, his vision blurry and red. “Who said that?”

“Me, you numbskull.” Naruto looked to his right, and saw it was the Lasat Zeb. “You’ve must’ve really pissed off the bastard to make him really give it to you..”

“I just spat on the guy’s shoes, nothing else.” Naruto weakly chuckled, grinning him a bloody grin. He winced, feeling his split lip scream in agony. “So what, are you saying I shouldn’t have done it?”

Zeb gave him a weak, sad smile. “Probably not, although I gotta give it you to ya: You got a bigger set than I do, and I’m a Lasat.” 

“Well, I never liked giving respect to those that don’t deserve it.” Naruto gingerly shrugged his shoulders. “Besides, I think I’ve been through much worse, believe it.” 

Despite his weakened and beaten form, Naruto’s attitude remained as strong as ever, which somehow made Zeb feel a lot better. 

“Slaves!”

All chatter ceased immediately as all eyes were on D’Nar. Naruto realized that he finally made it to the other slaves, who immediately looked away from him. Naruto slowly lifted his head, looking at D’Nar, who was standing on a podium with the other Pykes. 

“I’m only saying this once, so you better listen up. You will all be living here as my personal labor force. As part of my collection, you’ll be working on this section of the mine, which my empire happens to own. You will all be digging for my spices. Work hard and listen to your superiors, and I may go easy on you. May.” 

This got many frowns from the slaves, but none dared to speak up, choosing to look down at the ground instead of meeting the zygerrian’s eyes. The minute they did so, they noticed that the mine D’Nar was talking about was much different than the others. This one was a large, deep hole, looking much one the sinkhole cities of Utapau. 

“Welcome to Ölüm, also known as ‘The Red Grave.’ This will be your home from now on, so better get used to it.” 

D’Nar’s laughter echoed throughout the deep mines, sending shivers down the spines of the other slaves. 

  
  


* * *

**(AN from LW and AL)**

**Lucius Walker** : If you didn’t know by now, I have reposted this story on AO3 in the event that something happens to his story, like FF.net choosing to banish this story to the Shadow Realm for having lemons (but not doing anything about trolls and excessively mean comments.) It will be under the title, _A Jinchuuriki’s Destiny (LW Post)_. 

Anyways, please like and comment on this story. If you have any constructive criticism, fire away. 

**AmusedLight** : Like my friend here says, we’ll publish the AO3 version on his account (which is under the same name). Keep in mind that I’m still the main writer. Also, I’m currently working on this story till the next arc for this is finished. Also, I am open for anyone who wants to be an Beta-writer for any other story I am currently working on. So if you are interested, contact me on FF.Net. 

Have a good night!


	5. C5 - "The Plans"

**[Amegakure; ???]**

It has been three weeks since the sudden attack occurred on Konoha. Only a few casualties were reported, with many more being lightly injured. The real damage was mostly done to the village itself, with many buildings and trees either burnt down or blown up. 

Officially, it was reported to the world as a random attack by a group of thugs from outer space. One, which they successfully fended off with no major loss. 

However, a certain group of people knew better. Those group of individuals knew the truth, and were coming together to hold a meeting about it. 

… 

As implied by the name, Amegakure was a village that was always raining. On the days when the rain would come pouring extra hard, it was quite useful for shinobi, since the rain would help mask their presence. 

In this case, it would help the two individuals, who were wearing dark cloaks with red clouds on them, intrude the village. They were currently walking through an alleyway, doing their best to avoid detection. 

The two cloaked men peeked at a homeless man to their left from under their straw hats, who was currently trying to stay warm and dry under a makeshift tent. Trying to keep the fire alive in a small pot, the dirty, homeless man looked up at them. Seeing the cloaked men, he nodded at them, his false look of misery and fear turning into one of determination and duty. The two men nodded back, before they continued down the alleyway. 

They made a few turns, and found the entrance to a large sewer tunnel. Checking to see if they were being followed, they entered the entrance to their secret, underground base. 

“Man, it’s been such a crazy few months, wouldn’t you agree, Sasori?” Deidara finally said. The cloaked hunchback, who was now revealed as Sasori of the Red Sand, a missing-nin from Sunagakure, just nodded. “I do wonder why our boss decided to summon us all together in person. I mean, we got these rings for a reason, you know?” 

Sasori just rolled his eyes. “I’m sure the leader has a good reason for such an order, Deidara. One attempt to take over a village because they’re fools.” 

Sasori was referring to the fact that Pain, their mysterious, orange haired leader, had decided to overthrow Hanzo to take over the village. He had rallied most of the people with him, which was the first step to his plan for taking over as the village’s leader. 

Due to the civil war they were undergoing, the village had closed itself off from the rest of the world, which, according to their sources, was now being called “Elementia.” Part of the reason to why the people had decided to rebel against Hanzo was because of the declining economy the village was suffering from. Hanzo, being the paranoid man he was, refused to open up to the other nations and villages. This, aside from the fact that it was always gloomy and wet, made the people more miserable and poor, and thus, more hungry. On top of that, Hanzo refused to let the people in or out, which again, contributed to the poor lifestyle the people had to undergo. 

The final straw would be the Galactic Republic’s presence on their planet. Offering food, superior technology, and other supplies to anyone who decided to join them, the people had hoped that their leader would accept their offer. Much to their displeasure, he flat out rejected their offer, and thus, sending the village into further despair. 

Then came along Pain, the strange-eyed man who seemed to have the powers of the gods. He seemed to swoop down from the heavens, offering them food, warmth, and hope of a better future. And just like that, almost half of the village joined him in the war against Hanzo, the Paranoid Tyrant. 

“You know, thinking about how the civil war got started reminds me of something. I think your old village joined the Republic, right?” Deidara added. “Meanwhile, the old geezer in _my_ old village took the other way, joining the Confederacy or whatever. I guess it goes to show that petty rivalry extends beyond the stars, huh?” 

“That we can agree on.” 

The two of them stopped in their tracks as they finally made it to the secret underground room. Regarding the two rebel guards, they pushed open the large doors, and stepped inside. 

“Looks like we’ve arrived.” Deidara said, looking up at the large statue in front of them. Despite seeing it before in a different location, it never failed to amaze him. 

That statue was the Gedō Mazō, or also known as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. It stood taller like any other monumental or religious statue that could be seen across the Shinobi lands.

The statue was sticking its hands out of the earth, its hands spread out in a prayer, giving the demonic being a sense of ancient, godly power. 

Deidara shook his head, and shifted his focus to the other apparitions of the rest of the Akatsuki members, who were standing on the fingers of the large statue. 

_“You’ve made it.”_ The green eyed, masked figure said. Despite how dimly lit the room was, he could still see the scratched out Takigakure symbol on his forehead. _“Good. Now that you’re here, it will only be a matter of time before the leader comes in.”_

“Kakuzu.” Deidara called the member out with a smile. “How are you doing, my man? Don’t you have any accounting to do or something?” Kakuzu was infamous for two things: His freaky immortality, and his greed for money. Deidara always liked to poke at his lust for money, which was always fun to do. 

_“Don’t talk to me about counting money, Deidara. Ever since the Republic rolled in, they’re now using a different form of currency, which is annoying to learn, and equally annoying to convert to.”_ Kazuku growled at him. _“Besides, I haven’t been able to make any money at all. Not since we had to stay low for the past few months to take part in this civil war. And what doesn’t help my mood is my idiot, zealous freak of a partner and his stupid, religious rants!”_

_“Ey, fuck you!”_ Hidan shouted at his partner. _“You can speak easily, I have convictions! How can I honor Jashin if I cannot spill blood!” “You have it easy, man! I have convictions! Faith! How can I honor my god jashin if I can’t spill any blood?!”_

_“Like I care about your stupid convictions, Hidan.”_

_“How dare you-”_

“Can you both just shut up?” Sasori sighed, being the mediator for once. “Nobody has been doing anything then except for gathering information now. I think we can all agree that we’re all unable to do our favorite activities, so enough with the pointless banter.”

“Sasori’s right, you know.” Deidara agreed with a chuckle. “Besides, it’s not like it hasn’t been a complete bore these past few months. I mean, who knew that politics can be so interesting, especially these days.” 

Just before someone else can say anything else, two more holographic images appeared on the statue’s fingers. These two were quickly recognized, with the large sword and a particular set of red eyes making it easy to deduce their identities. 

“Well, look what the cat brought in.” Deidara said, upon recognizing the two other members. “Itachi, Kisame. Its been awhile since we heard from you guys.” 

_“Hey yourself, Deidara. Sasori. Guys.”_ Kisame smirked under his robe. _“I’ve been missing these kind of conversations.”_

_“That’s a lie, and you know it.”_ Kakuzu said to the rogue Mist shinobi. _“Got any word from the situation in Kirigakure?”_

_“Yeah, but I’d rather disclose it when the leader is here.”_ Kisame turned to his partner. _“On the other hand, Itachi and I found some interesting news about Konoha. Something about their Jinchuuriki.”_

“Oh, that village, huh?” Deidara chuckled. “I heard it took a beating from some bounty hunters from outer space. Pretty embarrassing for them, huh? Deidara taunted at Itachi.

Much to his slight disappointment, Itachi didn’t even blink at his jab. 

_“Like what my partner said, I’ll wait until our leader arrives before disclosing details.”_

**“You won’t have to wait long.”**

The rough voice came from the ground, and Deidara and Sasori watched as a plant-like man began to sprout from the ground. The man, much like the rest of them, wore the same cloak as the rest of them, and like the rest of them, this member was different from the rest of them, with the difference lying in the fact that he was plant-like (much like how Kisame was part shark), and with the fact that the right half of him was pure black. 

“Zetsu.” Sasori nodded at the plant-man, who nodded back at him. 

**“They’re here.”**

Moments after he said that, Sasori and Deidara heard footsteps behind them. Turning around, they found themselves staring directly into the strange, rippled eyes their leader held, as well as the blue-haired woman’s amber ones. 

“I’ve arrived.” Pain said, announcing his entrance. “I see everyone is present. Let us not waste any more time. If you have any important intel, speak now. Itachi? Kisame?”

  
  


Usually it was Itachi who gave the intel, but Kisame, who was bored out of his mind, decided to do the talking for once. 

_“I’m guessing that everyone knows of the attack that happened at the Hidden Leaf Village, right? Well, we just managed to figure out that it wasn’t a random attack by criminals. No, they had a specific target in mind to capture. And captured one of them, they did.”_

“Who was the target?” Konan asked in place of her friend and leader. 

_“Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails.”_

This news came as an unpleasant shock to the group, particularly towards Pain, who narrowed his eyes at the two. 

“...Is this true, Itachi?” Pain slowly asked. “If so, any idea on who’s responsible, and why?” 

_“It’s as you he said, Pain-sama.”_ Itachi nodded. _“According to our intel, Naruto Uzumaki was the target these criminals were after. Mercenaries, excuse me. For what purpose, even they did not know. The only notable fact is that they were of varying sentient species, they are quite infamous in the galaxy, and that they seemed more concerned about leaving with their target than confronting the shinobi.”_

_“Well that’s just fucking great!”_ Hidan shouted. _“You’re telling me that this little bastard is now somewhere around this big, fucking galaxy!?”_

_“Shut up, Hidan.”_ Kakuzu snapped. _“Your complaining won’t get us anywhere.”_

_“Well excuse me, Kakuzu-”_

“Silence!” Pain snapped, which stopped the bickering. “This is no time for this sort of nonsense!” 

He then fell into silence as he began to process this new information. With the capture of one of the jinchuuriki, especially the one with the nine-tailed fox, their plans were ruined. It didn’t matter how many they captured now. So long as one of them - ONE of them - was out of the picture, they couldn’t continue on with their plans. 

“While this setback is regrettable, this changes nothing of our plan yet.” Pain finally continued. “We must search for the jinchuuriki in the stars. We’ll scour every planet if we must. However, our access to the lands beyond the stars will not happen unless we claim Amegakure for ourselves. Once we overthrow the Paranoid Tyrant, not only will we possess the political immunity for our arrests, but we will also be able to negotiate the foreign governments for space travel. This is where every single one of you will come in.” 

_“With all due respect,”_ Itachi began to ask. _“How can we be of any help? The majority of us are infamous missing-nin. If anything, our very presence unnerves the rebel soldiers in this hideout. I can tell that their trust and faith in this organization is wavering.”_

“And that is why all of you will do your best to correct that.” Pain simply replied. “This will be your chance to become saviors instead of mindless killers. With your heroic acts to fight against the mighty tyrant, your name will be cleared enough where the future leader of the village will grant you immunity.” 

_“I see.”_ Itachi nodded. _“Then we shall do our best to support the troops and the people.”_

_“Same here.”_ Kisame grinned. _“Man, this is gonna so fun. This almost makes me forget about_ my _village’s news.”_

“What about your village, Kisame?” Konan couldn’t help but ask. 

_“Well, there’s whispers of the civil war coming to a close in Kiri.”_ Kisame announced to the group. _“The word on the street is that Mei Terumī’s forces are finally making a breakthrough, penetrating the Mizukage’s defenses thanks to both the Republic and the Separatists’ forces.”_

“Wait a minute, both of them?” Konan raised an eyebrow. “I was under the impression that the two were on poor terms with each other. Unless…” 

_“You guessed it.”_ Kisame nodded, his grin never leaving. _“They’re having a free trial on who can offer the best deal, which includes supplies, men, you name it. Oh, and get this: Since the Republic couldn’t actually help them with the fighting, due to the lack of troops, all they could do is send in some humanitarian support in between the fighting, which is basic stuff like food and medicine. The Separatists, meanwhile, sent those - what do you call them? Droids? Yeah, droids. They sent a lot of them to help with the war, and not to mention the same thing the Republic offered, but in bigger quantities. If the rumors are true, Mei’s gonna join the Confederacy, which is funny, considering how the Separatists are being called the bad guys and the traitors by the Republic.”_

“Interesting.” Pain nodded in thought. “Thank you, Kisame. This intel may actually prove valuable to our cause, should we ever have to pick a side when we overthrow Hanzo.” 

_“Happy to help.”_ Kisame just shrugged, before he finally finished, allowing Deidara to jump in. 

“So Kiri’s about to join the big C.” Deida chuckled. “That’s good to know, since my village also joined that side. According to Sasori, Kumo is on its way to join them as well, which means that so far, three of the five major villages have joined the Separatists.” 

Pain turned to the the puppeteer master. “Sasori, what’s the news coming from Suna?”

“Suna has renegotiated their treaty with Konoha after their failed invasion. My spies have notified me that they are almost done completing their treaty with the Republic as well, and are now on their way to receiving the gifts and technology they had to offer. Furthermore, it would appear that their jinchuuriki has now taken over as the next Kazekage.” 

“So that’s three major villages against two.” Konan rounded up, before moving on to the next question. “What about the smaller villages?”

_“My village has already announced it would join the Republic.”_ Kakuzu, said gaining everyone’s attention. _“The village leader stated that out of respect for the late Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, he will remain an ally to Konoha, and thus, an ally for the Republic.”_

_“Urgh!”_ Hidan hissed. _“My village doesn’t exist anymore. Turned into a fucking hotspring resort. No shame-”_

_“Shut up, Hidan!”_ Kakuzu snapped at his whining, before turning back to the leader.

“What else on the villages, Kakuzu?

_“Kusa has decided to remain neutral in this political clash. No surprise really, considering how their skills in diplomacy far outranks its neighbors, like Iwa and Konoha. They did, however, offer to be the middle ground so that they can act as the mediator, should any potential conflicts arise in the future.”_

This was actually good news for the group, since Amegakure shares a border with them in the north. _“Hoshigakure has also decided to join the Republic, which, given their friendly relations with Konoha, is no surprise. Meanwhile, the other independent countries like Nami and Haru have quickly declared neutrality, but decided to continue their equal trade for both sides the same.”_

“And Oto?”

“Pff.” Deidara rolled his eyes. “Like you could call _that_ a proper village. It’s more like Orochimaru’s side project...”

Ignoring his comments, Kakuzu answered Pain’s question. “Orochimaru hasn’t answered either's calls, and it’s most likely that he wants to keep it that way. For the other non-shinobi villages, I have no information about it.”

“Good work, Kakuzu. We’ll keep that in mind.” Pain said, before turning to the plant-man. “Zetsu, I want you to continue to gather information about the other countries. Keep an eye out on the main villages as well, and notify us of any significant events.”

**“Will do, leader.”**

Pain’s eyes turned back to the others. “Our plans have changed, everyone. We will focus all our efforts on taking control over Amegakure. Our top priority now is to win the support of the people, and to eliminate all of Hanzo and his loyal subjects. I want every single person even remotely associated to the tyrant to be eliminated. Is that understood?.”

“Yes, Pain-sama.” They all nodded, determined to not fail their god-like leader. 

“Itachi.” Pain called out for the Uchiha, which made the room grow quiet. “You will work with Zetsu to find out who the kidnappers are. I want to know why he was kidnapped, and where he could be now.” 

“It will be done, Pain-sama.” Itachi nodded. 

“Good.” Pain nodded in satisfaction. “You’re all dismissed. Make sure that every single one of you gets here soon.” 

They all nodded, before the projections disappeared, leaving behind the Akatsuki members who were present in the area. They were all left in silence, save for the howlings winds and the loud thunder that rocked the skies. 

* * *

**[Konoha, Hokage building]**

Tsunade sat in silence as all of the members of the Jedi Council, (save for Yoda, who had personally arrived to the planet,) were being broadcasted in front of Tsunade’s desk, giving their reports in a somber tone. A protocol droid stood by her, waiting to do its duty. 

_“Unfortunately, our efforts to track down the bounty hunters and the boy are being slowed down. We are being bombarded with diplomatic missions to try to convince the other systems to not defect to the Confederacy. On top of that, the bounty hunters have done a great job on covering their tracks, making it that much harder for us to find him.”_

It was Plo Koon, the strange, masked Jedi who delivered the unfortunate news. Judging by the way he was looking down and the tone of his voice, it was clear that he was ashamed of this lack of progress. 

“Is that all you can say?” Tsunade slowly said, her voice trembling as she struggled to contain her rage. 

Ki-Adi-Mundi nodded grimly. _“What makes matters worse, my Lady, is that we are finding ourselves unable to find him through the Force. It must be the work of the Sith, using the Dark Side to mask his presence.”_

“Bullshit!” Tsunade slammed her hand onto her desk, the wood cracking from her fury. “My men were able to extract some names from the dead mercenaries in the forest. What about the names of the bounty hunters we gave you?! Cad Bane? Jango Fett? Aurra Sing? Zam Wesell? How are you people so incapable of finding criminals with high profiles like these?!” 

_“Ma’am,”_ Master Windu quickly stepped in, trying to become the mediator to deescalate the situation. _“I know this looks bad, but we assure you that we are doing everything in our power to retrieve the boy.”_

“Right.” Tsunade clenched her teeth, her desk groaning and cracking from under her fingers, which was noticed by Yoda. “I can tell, by the way that you’re sitting in your comfortable chairs.” 

“Ma’am-” 

“NO! Enough of this! Enough ‘meditating’ and ‘using the Force’ to look for my godson! You all need to get up, and search every goddamn planet if you have to! Kami damn the fact that I can’t fly your stupid ships yet, otherwise I would do this myself!” 

The Hokage’s outburst made them flinch. This type of reaction to them wasn’t exactly new, and they understood her anger completely. They could only hope that they could do their best to keep her satisfied, since failures like these was part of the reason to why some planets reconsidered their place in the Republic, or even worse, deciding to join the Confederacy. The planet was already divided enough was it was, with the entire planet being cut into two political camps, similar to how Earth currently is. 

“Angry you are, we can understand.” Yoda spoke to her with an apologetic tone. “Continue this conversation, we shall do later.” 

_“Agreed.”_ Windu said, nodding to his master. _“We’ll speak to you later, my Lady.”_

The transmission then shut off, just as the door opened, and in walked in her long-time friend, Jiraiya. 

“Jiraiya, what now?” Tsunade sighed, and Jiraiya flinched at how much older she suddenly sounded. She slumped back into her seat, the metal chair creaking and groaning from the sudden shift of her weight. “I’ve got enough on my head now with all of this-” 

“Do you remember that offer the Republic and the Feudal Lords gave me?” Jiraiya interrupted, which made her look up at him. “I said no.” 

“No?” Tsunade questioned. “Then who are they going to pick to be our senator? And what are you going to do instead?” 

“I’m going to leave Elementia to travel across the galaxy.” Jiraiya stated, surprising both of them. “I’m taking all of my funds, and I’m going to search every kami-forsaken planet for our godson. I’m going to establish my intelligence across the systems, and I’m going to make sure that I have eyes and ears everywhere.” 

“And as for your first question, well, our Feudal Lord picked Gaara as the senator for the Republic side of Elementia.” 

“That kid?” Tsunade raised her eyebrow. “Awfully young, wouldn’t you say?” 

Jiraiya shrugged. “Old enough to kill, old enough to be a senator. Besides, I rejected the offer, and you’re too busy being the Hokage, and we don’t really have that many strong allies to be the Republican senator of our planet.” ” 

He paused to drink some water, before he continued. 

“By the way, in case you were wondering, Mei Terumī, the newest Kage for Kiri, just became the senator for the Separatist part of Elementia, while Mifune became the neutral senator. Can’t blame Mei if you ask me, since the Republic wasn’t much help during the conflict. While the Republic sent minimal supplies, the Separatists sent an army of those droids to help with not just the war, but with reconstruction as well.”

Tsunade rolled her eyes back with a sigh, groaning as she slumped into her chair. All this politics, old and new, was wearing her down, and she really needed a break from all the bullshit that was going on. 

Yoda, seeing as how the woman needed to be left alone for a minute, turned towards Jiraiya. “Leave, when will you?” 

“I’m heading out tomorrow.” Jiraiya said, his eyes hardened with determination. “My godson’s out there somewhere, and he’s been all alone for too long. Thanks to the senators and even some of the Jedi, I learned about space travel, and how to keep undercover.” 

“Are you sure you want to go alone?” Tsunade asked her friend. “I can give you a team to help you on your way.”

“Thanks Tsunade, but no, I can’t risk getting too much attention. I’ll need to keep a low profile, especially since we have no idea what the Akatsuki’s up to.” 

“A wise move, that would be.” Yoda nodded in agreement. “Many steps ahead of them, we must be. Capture Hagamoro’s children, they must not.” 

A few months ago, the topic of the missing-nin group was brought up when Yoda showed Tsunade and Jiraiya in private his Memory Holocron. The minute they realized that Yoda actually had a good relationship with the bijuu, they decided that it was important to discuss the issues with the Akatsuki. They had no idea exactly why they wanted the jinchuuriki, with only theories and rumors to base their assumptions with, but the minute they realized the origin of the bijuu, it suddenly made sense to why they wanted to collect all 9 jinchuurikis. 

Their brief conversation was cute short by the knocking on the door. 

“Come in.” The door slowly swung open, revealing the elder nurse, who quickly recovered from the stun bolt.

“Lady Tsunade.” The nurse bowed. “Lady Shizune asked me to inform you that Kakashi Hatake and the other shinobi are waking up..” 

Sighing from relief, Tsunade stood up, a small smile greeting the nurse. “Thank you for the update. You may now return to your station.”

“Yes, my lady.” The nurse bowed again, before closing the door behind her. After that, Tsunade moved to grab her coat.

“It’s time to speak with Kakashi,” She says being halfway done “Any information he has we’ll need to know if we want to find Naruto.” 

“I’ll head out soon, then.” Jiraiya said. He and Tsunade gave each other a quick hug, before they broke apart. He placed something onto her hand, and she realized that it was a small, metal disk; his personal holopad. 

“Be careful, Jiraiya. Please promise me that.” Tsunade asked, her lips tightly pressed together as she held back tears, afraid to show her fear of possibly losing another loved one.

“I promise, Tsunade,” Jiraiya nodded, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’m not going to die until I bring our godson back home.” 

It was a simple promise. A promise that both of them knew that he could fail at. They knew very well that he might search for the rest of his life, and he may never even hear about their godson. Still, it was enough for Tsunade to finally let go of her friend. 

Jiraiya gave her one last smile, before he bowed his head. 

POOF!

A puff of smoke erupted from the spot where the white-haired man once stood. It cleared away within seconds, leaving nothing behind, but a hint of used chakra, which only Yoda was able to detect. 

“Body Flicker Technique.” Tsunade explained to Yoda. “We use some of our chakra to move quickly from one place to another.”

“I see.” Yoda nodded, the technique reminding him of Force Speed. Noticing that Tsunade was walking away (no doubt that it was to attend to the recent patients), he decided to join her for the walk. 

“Strange, Master Jiraiya is.” Yoda commented. 

“Hmm?” Tsunade turned to the small Jedi. “What do you mean?”

“Hatred and despair, often felt in distressed families. Sense this in Master Jiraiya, I could not.” Yoda explained, being slightly surprised by the Sannin’s unusually calm emotions. 

Tsunade chuckled at this, her small laughter lacking in humor or life. 

“Believe me, that’s just his way of coping with loss.” Tsunade sighed. “Over the years, we lost a lot of loved ones. Friends, families, potential apprentices. All of them died from the wars this country has been through, with many of them not even making it to twenty. Hell, Jiraiya rescued three orphans from the battlefield, and trained them to the best he could. Then one day, he finds out that they were all killed by the same enemy that _we_ barely survived from. If I need to be honest with you, there’s times when he drank a lot more than I did.” 

Yoda’s ears drooped as he heard Jiraiya’s tragic tale. As shortened as it was, the feelings of loss and sorrow was not minimized, with Yoda not needing to use the Force to feel the pain coming from the story. 

It was then that Yoda wondered if the man’s perverted actions was merely a way for him to cope with his loss. 

“Strength of a Jedi, he clearly shows. But restraint, not as much.”

“Pff, you don’t have to be a monk to figure him out.” Tsunade remarked with a chuckle walking passed the Jedi. “Come on, old man. Let’s head to the infirmary.”

… 

**[Konoha - Hospital]**

Shizune was fumbling with a large, rectangular device in her hands. The protocol droid following her had explained to her about the functions of her new datapad. Despite how bulky it was, and despite how confusing _as hell_ it was, it was admittedly a huge step up from the usual large folders and papers. For one, it made gathering and storing data that much more faster and safer, especially since the datapad was highly water resistant, and clumsy drops would do nothing to damage the device. Hell, putting your foot through the gadget would only destroy the machine itself, but not the data, with the data being safely stored in multiple chips around the machine. 

Despite the comedic show that Shizune was putting on, those that were close to her would know that her bashful grin was hiding a far more tragic expression. The minute she was fully healed, she had heard the terrible news that had befallen the village. The minute she heard that Naruto Uzumaki, the blond, goofy boy that she was beginning to see as a little brother, was kidnapped, she bursted into tears, feeling partially responsible for the entire mess. 

She was a proud kunoichi of Konoha, a strong woman who was taught by Tsunade Senju herself about the art of medicine, and yet, she was ambushed so easily by the group of men and women, with the last thing she saw was the skinwalker taking her form and her clothes. 

When she woke up, her body felt weak, with her limbs bound together by some rope. It was honestly a miracle that she managed to get the door opened, with her needing to constantly slam her body and head to break the closet door down. It was also a miracle that someone had found her, which lead to them going after the intruders. 

Bound, bruised, and nearly nude, knowing that she had finally alerted the village, she allowed herself to pass out, hoping with all her might that nothing would happen to the village, and that the intruders will be apprehended swiftly. Imagine her shame when she awoke to find out that not only a few shinobi had perished, but multiple buildings were demolished, with many more being on fire. To make matters worse, they had successfully kidnapped Naruto, with the strange, shapeshifting being using her form to make it happen. 

_‘No.’_ Shizune shook her head. _‘I can’t focus on my failure now. I need to help my patients.’_ Stopping for a moment to put on an assuring smile, she opened the door. 

Shizune’s face contorted as she took a minute to adjust to the sharp smell that stabbed into her brain. 

“Ugh, I guess the cleaning droids were here recently.” Shizune muttered. 

While she was no stranger to the smell of blood, death, and sterilized rooms and hallways, this new chemical the Republic introduced was far stronger than the ones they used to clean the hallways. She had to take a moment to remind herself that this chemical, despite how harsh it smelled, was safe to use, as evident by the fact that this sterilizing fluid was used by many laboratories across the galaxy. 

Shaking her head, she continued to walk down the clean hallway, which was bustling with visitors being desperate to visit their patients. This included one of the young genins, who was hurt in an explosion caused by one of the bounty hunters. Shizune decided to walk a little faster, afraid that the parents would come out of the room any minute, and unleash their grief onto her. 

“Shizune.”

The woman stiffened, before turning around to see her master arrive. 

“Lady Tsunade, Master Yoda.” Shizune bowed at them, grateful to see them again. 

“Kakashi. Where is he?” Tsunade said roughly. 

“R-right.” Shizune cleared her throat. “He was just discharged from his bacta bath, my lady. I told him to take it easy for a while, but he insisted on talking with you.” 

“Important, this must be.” Yoda noted. “Hurry, we should.” 

“Knowing Hatake, whatever he needs to say is important.” Tsunade nodded. “Let’s not make him wait.” 

… 

**[Hatake’s Room]**

Kakashi Hatake was lying on his bed, his uncovered eye staring blankly at the white ceiling. The birds chirped happily in the background, ignorant or uncaring of the chaos that had been plaguing the village for some time. 

Absent-mindedly, his hand slowly brushed over his stomach, where it was heavily damaged from the ship’s cannon-fire. The mercenaries, despite having no chakra, still proved to be a dangerous foes, as proven by their willingness to go all out to fulfill their mission. Kakashi was unfortunately enough to not get away from the ship fast enough, being the most reluctant to leave the area despite the rain of blaster-bolts threatening to blast them to pieces. 

His stubbornness had costed him, with one of the cannon-bolts exploding just meters from him. His eardrums had ruptured, and his stomach was burnt and shredded as he flew backwards like a ragdoll. According to the medical droids and the doctors, he was close to death’s door, but it was thanks to Tsunade herself that he lived to fight another day. 

Still, he was forced to be submerged in the bacta tank, which greatly accelerated his healing. 

If Kakashi was honest, though, a part of him wanted to die. He had failed to save his comrade, once again, and now Naruto, his student, and the son of the two people he looked up to, was gone, kidnapped by a group of thugs to kami-knows-where. 

Kakashi’s thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, with his visitors quietly entering his room. He relaxed as he realized it was Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, and the remaining members of Team 7, Sakura Haruno and - surprisingly, Sasuke Uchiha. The said Uchiha was in handcuffs, his seal still restricting his chakra, with Anko Mitarashi keeping a close eye on him. 

“Kakashi…”

He stared at his visitors for a moment so he could see them clearly, before staring back at the ceiling. He seemed dead to the world, wallowing in his failures, unable to see his friends and colleagues around him.

Sakura ended up being the first one to approach her sensei’s side, gently touching his hand to try to comfort him. 

“Kakashi-Sensei…”

“Sakura.” Her old teacher slowly nodded at her, before his head slowly moved towards the others. “Asuma. Kurenai. Gai.” 

“Save your strength, Kakashi.” Asuma held up his hand to stop him from getting up. “You shouldn’t even be talking right now. You need to be resting.” 

“What happened?” Kakashi grunted, slowly rising like a zombie. He groaned as his bones and muscles screamed in protest, but he ignored them. “What happened after I blacked out?” 

“We were dragged back by the rest of the ANBU.” Kurenai said, her hand clutching at her arm. “We were treated for our wounds, and whoever was well enough had to help out the civilians. All things considering, some of us got it easy. I mean, Yūgao’s still in her bed.” 

“Is she going to make it?”

“...She’ll be fine.” Asuma said after a minute-too-long hesitation. “I mean, the cannon-fire took out her leg, but fortunately, the medical droids were able to give her a prosthetic. She’ll be fine after some rest...and therapy.” 

“Damn it.” Kakashi’s singular eye shut in sorrow, his heart broken after hearing about her devastating wounds. “And the others? What about them?” 

This time, it was Gai’s turn to deliver the news. 

“Most of them are fine.” He said. “Some didn’t make it, but others...will be fine after some time. Thankfully, it’s mostly just severe blaster burns, but nothing that Tsunade’s personal healers can’t fix.” 

Despite hearing about her team’s loss, Kakashi finally allowed himself to relax a little, choosing this time to try to focus on the brighter side. Still, his fists clenched as he began to imagine Yūgao’s expression at hearing the loss of her team members - men and women alike that fought alongside her for almost over a decade. 

Anko closed her eyes, finding herself for once, unable to watch someone in pain. “It’s no use, Kakashi. What’s done is done.” 

“But still, those mercenaries who attacked our village are still at large.”

“We took out some of them.” Asuma quickly informed him. “Inoichi was able to salvage some intel from the dead mercenaries, which include the names of the others.”

Kakashi’s eye narrowed. “Who are they?” 

“Don’t even think about it, Kakashi.” Anko warned him. “You just avoided dying like three times this week, so don’t think about getting revenge now.”

But Kakashi wouldn’t listen, and struggled to get up. “Damn it, just tell me their names.” 

The door slid open.

“Kakashi-Sensei.” Sakura pleaded. “Please, think about-” 

“You heard her, Hatake. Stay down.”

Everyone turned towards the door to see Lady Tsunade and Master Yoda enter the room, their presence causing them to fall into silence.

She walked in and saw that he was halfway out of his bed. “You better get back in your bed, Hatake. I won’t say it again.” 

Kakashi glared at her in slight defiance, before he sighed, allowing his body to slump back into bed. The small, green Jedi walked up to the middle of the room to face the bed. 

“I’ve been told that you wanted to speak to me.” Tsunade said to the patient. “So speak.”

“When can I get out?” 

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at his question. “I will say about a week. Why?”

“To find Naruto, of course.” Kakashi replied a little too calmly. “I need to find him.”

“Kakashi, you _need_ to wait.” Asuma tried to reason with him. “We don’t even know where to begin, since he could literally be anywhere in the galaxy-” 

Kakashi’s eye narrowed into a glare as he stared at the bearded shinobi, and suddenly, the room grew colder. 

“Are you telling me to give up, Asuma?” He growled. 

That’s when Kurenai decided to jump in to Asuma’s defense. “No, Kakashi. He’s just saying that we can’t just jump into this without a plan. Like he said, we have no idea where Naruto even is, and we need to gain intel first before we jump into action.” 

“And what? You expect me to do nothing but just lay here and sleep like nothing’s happening? I _need_ to be out there, looking for him, before kami-knows what they’re going to do to him!!!” 

That’s when Gai decided to jump in as well. “I know that you want to find Naruto, but like what everyone’s saying, you _need_ to rest. Your body is barely well enough for you to even run right now. And besides, the Uzumaki boy will be fine. You know how he i-” 

“Your student Lee’s fine now, isn’t he?” Kakashi shot back. “He had most of his body crushed, but he’s well enough to run laps.” 

“Don’t change the subject, Kakashi.” Gai held his ground. 

“You’re right.” Kakashi muttered. “We’re only talking about the legacy of the-” 

“Kakashi, not here.” Kurenai said, stopping him. “Don’t mention _that_ in front of the genin.”

Meanwhile, while the older shinobi was bickering amongst themselves, Sasuke’s face was growing more shadowed by his hair, his hands clenching as he continued to hear them mention the blond’s name. 

“Enough already!” Tsunade barked out. “We have no reason to argue amongst ourselves about Naruto. Actions are already being taken.” 

“Then why are we kept out of it?!”

Everyone stopped as they turned to face Sasuke. 

Anko narrowed her eyes as she placed her hands on his shoulders. 

“Hey kid, keep your mouth shut, or else-”

“It's been three weeks already.” The Uchiha ignored her words. “Why is it that nobody has been doing anything by now? Damn the fact that we don’t know where they are, we at least have the names of these intruders!”

“Like you’re one to talk, kid.” Asuma glared at the kid. “Couple months ago, you tried to turn to Orochimaru, which led to your fellow teammates to be critically injured by his goons.” Although Asuma didn’t like to show it, he held bitter feelings for the Uchiha, who was partially responsible for Choji having to go through intensive care.

“Never mind that for now.” Sasuke glared back at him. “I just want to know what are you guys going to do about Naruto, now? That’s all I wanna know!” 

“And why do you care, brat?” Anko got in his face. “For all I know, you just want to finish the job.” 

“Why would I kill someone who I consider my FRIEND!?”

This sudden outburst caught everyone off guard, who knew the Uchiha as the lone wolf ever since his clan’s massacre. Yoda raised his eyebrow at this. 

“Back at the valley, I was just about to cross the border without a second thought.” Sasuke admitted. “The only thing I cared about was gaining the power I needed to kill my brother. In that moment, I was sure that nothing else mattered. Unless we fought.” 

Sasuke looked down as he clenched his hands, being brought back to that moment in the valley. 

“We were evenly matched, with neither of us winning or losing the fight. I told him that I was going to kill him to make my eyes stronger. But even then, he refused to back down, telling me that he would bring me back here, no matter what.” 

  
  


The room was in complete silence as even Anko was unable to speak a word. Sasuke, for the first time in two months, began to speak about what had happened. Not wanting to resort to torture, since Sasuke appeared to just be in shock, Inoichi had tried to use his family’s techniques to pry into his mind, but the cursed seal made him abort the process, due to the first thing he saw was Orochimaru’s twisted form. For the past two months, they couldn’t get him to utter a single word about what had happened...until now. 

“He refused to give up on me.” Sasuke continued. “No matter how many times I hurt him, no matter how many times I knocked him down, he kept on getting up again. Even after I ran my Chidori through him again, he just kept getting back up...” 

The Uchiha then fell into silence as his eyes grew hazy, falling back into that moment. His head began to slump downwards, until Kakashi cleared his throat. 

“Sasuke, what did Naruto do or say to you that changed your mind?”

The raven-haired teen scoffed to himself. “He reminded me that I had everything he doesn’t. That I was lucky to had parents that loved me, and that there were others in this village that cared about me.” Much to their surprise, he let out a sad chuckle. “The loser always did know how to speak to people.” 

This, once again, made the room fall into stunned silence as the usually stoic and now traitorous Uchiha was showing signs of guilt, making even the skeptical start to wonder if he truly had changed for the better. 

“I was stupid.” Sasuke admitted to the group. “I was so focused on what I lost that I forgot about what I still had. Naruto literally had to beat that reminder into me before I realized it.” 

“Blinded, you were.”

Everyone’s attention was now pulled towards Yoda, who had spoken for the first time in those few minutes. 

“Blinded by hatred, you were. Common it is, among victims. It is.” Yoda said, joining the conversation. “Losing family, painful it always is. Controlling your emotions, difficult it is.”

Not being able to fully process the thought of being spoken to by an alien for the first time, he could only say, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Sasuke frowned as he was brought back into his memories. Out of nowhere, he began to shudder. 

“Disturbed, you are.” Yoda pointed out. “Why, might I ask?” 

“...There was something else that happened.” Sasuke recalled. “Right when we clashed for the last time, I-I think I felt Naruto’s emotions.” 

“Felt his emotions, you say?” Yoda raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah. At that moment, I...I just felt everything Naruto felt. His anger. His sadness. His hatred. And everything else.” 

Sasuke then looked at his right hand, which had healed up quite nicely. Still, it would twitch from time to time; a reminder of the damage done to it. 

“But then there’s more. In that moment when I felt his emotions, I think mine came out too. Just everything that I’ve bottled up and everything that I’ve already been feeling just came out of me. And...I think my Chidori got stronger in that moment.” 

Already armed with the knowledge of the technique, Yoda stroked his chin, before he turned to the Hokage. “Lady Tsunade, a blood sample of this entire village, may I have?” 

This earned him an odd look from the blonde. “What for, if I may ask?” 

“Test something, I must do.” Yoda answered, taking a quick glance at the Uchiha. “More mysteries, this planet has to offer.”

“...Yeah, sure. I can arrange that.” 

This made them all stare at their leader, puzzled at why she would grant the stranger such a suspicious request. 

“This keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Sakura said, her words voicing the thoughts of the rest of them. 

* * *

**[Kamino]**

Boba chewed his lip as he put down his father’s blasters. Grabbing a wet towel to wipe his hands, he examined the disassembled weapon, before nodding in dull satisfaction. 

Despite the job being well done, he still felt nervous, due to his father still being inside the bacta tank. 

Entering the living room was Cad Bane, who was looking as miffed as ever, as he was just done talking to the owner of their temporary homes.

“Tall, pale pricks.” The duros grumbled, sitting across the young human. “Trying to pick us for everything we have with their damn rent.” 

“Hey, Bane.” Boba replied to him respectfully. “Having problems with the Kaminoans?”

“I don’t trust them for a bit, Boba.” The bounty hunter’s eyes gazed around the room, searching for any visible cameras. “I’m curious, child. How _do_ you stay so calm in a place like this?” 

“By helping around usually, or cleaning my dad’s weapons.” Boba said, using a towel to clean his father’s other blaster. “There Isn't much to do here on Kamino, honestly.”

“You tell me, kid.” 

The door then slid open, getting the two to turn towards it. In walked in Aurra, who was helping Jango limp towards them. In contrast to Aurra, Jango was in his casual outfit. 

“Dad.” Boba quickly walked up to him as the Mandalorian was set onto the couch bed. 

“Easy Boba, he still needs rest.” Aurra warned him. “Here, lay down.”

“Thanks…” Jango grunted, before turning to his son. “Boba.”

“Yes, Dad?”

“I’ll be fine.” Jango smiled at him. “Nothing some bacta can’t fix.”

Jango realized that Boba’s frown was still on his face, so he continued. “Here, can you go get us something to eat?” 

“Sure.”

Jango turned to Sing. “Can you follow Boba? You can go get something for yourself as well.” 

“What, I’m your maid girl now?” Aurra smirked, before tapping on Boba’s head. “C’mon, kiddo. Let’s go give the big boys some privacy.” 

The two quickly exited the room, leaving Jango and Bane on their own. 

“I’m curious, Jango,” Bane spat out the toothpick he was chewing on. “When are you going to tell the others about your past? Especially your kid, Boba?” 

“Later.” The human bounty hunter sighed. Grabbing the box of pills from the nightstand, he popped them into his mouth, swallowing them dry. “For now, though, there’s a few things I need to talk about.” 

“You’re still thinking about that kid? Get over it.” Bane snorted, leaving over on his chair. “We’ve got our credits, and our employer was generous enough to understand the situation. So what’s the issue?” 

Jango didn’t answer, his eyes narrowing as he was lost in thought. Without warning, he hopped out of his bed, and walked towards the table to where Bane was sitting, where his helmet rested. Glancing at the t-visor, which seemed to be staring at him, he placed his hand over the silver helmet. His knuckles whitened as he began to grip onto it furiously. 

“Bane.” 

The duros looked at him, his nonexistent eyebrow now raised. 

“I need you to do me a favor.”

… 

Walking back to their new room, Aurra and Boba ran across Zam, who was also getting some food. 

“I’m still surprised, honestly.” Zam said, opening the door for them. “From being chased by those ninja-like warriors, to escaping a firefight between the slavers and the pirates, to being stuck on this planet for weeks. Not exactly what I thought would happen from taking that job.” 

“That’s just the life of a bounty hunter.” Aurra chuckled. “It’s full of the unexpected. You’ll get used to it.” 

“They’re gone again.” Boba nearly shouted, their conversation coming to a halt. They took a look around their room, and it was indeed empty.

“Huh, where’d they go?” Zam’s eyes scanned the room for the two male bounty hunters. Looking around, the room was indeed empty, save for them and Boba, who was walking up the table. He picked up something, which turned out to be a piece of paper..

Aurra took a look in the storage room, and saw that it was empty too. “Jango’s gear is gone, and by the looks of it, his weapons too.”

_Dear Boba,_ Jango’s son read. _Sorry that Bane and I had to leave. I just needed to check on something. I promise that I’ll be back soon. Aurra and Zam will stay with you. From, your dad._

The two female bounty hunters expected him to be frustrated, but Boba just sighed, before grabbing a seat. 

Funny enough, Zam appeared to be more frustrated with their sudden disappearance than Boba was. “Bastards.” 

Aurra just chuckled. “Well, you know how they are. All work, no play. Now, come on. We can have fun without them.” 

* * *

**[** **_Slave I_ ** **]**

  
  


The _Slave I_ was already leaving Kamino’s orbit, with its pilot currently preparing for the jump to hyperspace. Sitting next to the said pilot was Bane, who, while annoyed at the sudden trip, was also curious to where this was going. 

“You sure you’re good enough to fly?” The blue bounty hunter asked. “I’d rather not go on this sudden field trip to who-knows-where, only to die because you can’t dodge an asteroid in time.” 

“I’m fine.” Jango answered while punching in the coordinates. “The painkillers are doing their jobs, so I can use my arms just fine.”

“I’m not the one that likes asking a lot of questions, but are you sure it’s a good idea to go back to that planet?”

“There’s a place described only in the ancient legends of our people that I had forgotten about.” Jango said. “If that place does exist on that planet, then some of the answers I’m looking for should be there.” 

“If you say so.” Cad Bane sighed. 

“I know so, Bane.” Jango nodded to himself. “I know so.” He then punched in the last of the buttons, and the hyperdrive began to start up. 

_‘I swear, I’ll make it up to you, Jareel. You and everyone else.’_

The ship jumped into hyperspace, blasting them back to the planet Elementia.

* * *

**[Kessel - Ölüm]**

It was another summer day on Kessel. Not a cloud was in sight, with both the slaves and the slavers alike being roasted under the merciless sun. As usual, without the Republic breathing down the necks of the Pykes and the Zygerrians, both criminal factions were free to operate their spie mining. 

Despite the heat, however, the slavers themselves weren’t complaining very much. After all, they were inside of their luxurious offices/homes, with clean, filtered air filling their lungs, and with the slaves fanning them to keep them cool. 

The slaves, however, were not so fortunate.

TWACK!

A large, curved, thin blade pierced a large boulder. The cracks spread like wildfire, before it disintegrated, causing a cloud of red dust to cover the hole of the tunnel they were digging. 

*Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*

A human man stumbled through the dust cloud. Under layers of dirt and red dust was fairly brown skin, with the man sprouting course, oily hair. His face was mostly covered with a small green and white cloth, which helped filter the dangerous clouds and fumes that filled the small tunnel. 

“Ya Ibn el Sharmouta!” The man cursed in Arabic. “Could’ve warned me this boulder would just fall apart.” He coughed a couple of times more while leaning his hand against the wall.

Patting the guy’s back was another human, whose skin, despite the dust and their miserable state, seemed to glow in comparison to the Arabian. 

“Take it easy Tarik, you’ll drop dead if you keep this up.” He pulled out his small canteen of water - one of the little luxuries those slavers allowed them to have.

Tarik took a moment to move out of the tunnel, gasping for fresher air, before accepting the canteen. 

“Thanks, Adrik.”

“My pleasure.” 

They heard light footsteps approaching them, and they relaxed, seeing how it was Naruto. 

Naruto Uzumaki, whose eyes were once full of life and hope, was now reduced to a squinted glare, his eyes now narrow and always on guard. The dulled, blue orbs glanced at the two men, and they softened for a moment, before he walked into their tunnel, holding a flashlight with fresh new batteries. 

They offered him some of their water, and after the teen took a moment to wipe his dusty hands on his tattered shirt (which he pilfered from a dead slave), he accepted the water. 

“We close yet?” He grunted. They shrugged, and then the boy glanced at the tunnel, before sighing with relief. 

“Good. Found it.” He muttered to himself, glad to know that those harsh days of back-breaking work had finally paid off. “Guys, we found it!”

Tarik took his flashlight, and aimed it at the dark. A small smile was brought onto their faces as the beam of light revealed the mineshaft they were looking for. 

“You sure this is the one?” Tarik asked cautiously. 

“Well, I don’t see the lights being on.” Naruto snarked. 

“Still, I want to be sure.” Tarik said, pulling out a glow stick and breaking it, before throwing it as far as he could. The rediscovered mineshaft was filled with green light as the stick flew through into the collapsed shaft.

“Pretty sure that’s it.” Naruto grinned. 

“Finally.” Adrik groaned with relief, wiping the sweat off his forehead, before he turned to leave with his friend. Naruto stared into the dimly-lit darkness for a moment, before he turned around, picking up their forgotten pickaxe to join them. 

If they were lucky, maybe today’s food would have less mold and dust on it than usual. 

… 

**(Mess Hall)**

The Mess Hall was a large, yet cramped area for where the slaves go to eat. This one in particular was one of the three that existed in the mines, with the fourth one being destroyed long ago by a mining accident. 

The tables, which were rusty and ancient, sat tightly packed together in an effort to conserve some space. They were currently filled with people of all races and species, which included Naruto and his two friends who just sat down to eat their food - or what they can afford to call it in their situation. 

Andrik poked at the sludge in his tray with his spoon, frowning when he found something hard. Scooping it up, it looked to be a claw of an animal. “What the hell is this?” 

“I think it’s a part of a bird.” A random Rodian slave answered helpfully. “Just try to imagine it’s something else.” 

Shaking his head, Andrik grabbed it with his hands, and nibbled on the fleshy parts of it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Tarik was making a small prayer, his hands left open as he was reciting verses of the scripture from his religious text. Tarik was a religious Urzik Muslim, who would often recite quotes from his holy book, or would just pray in his prison cell while the others slept. 

“Ameen.” Tarik concluded his prayer, before closing the book, putting it away. He finally grabbed his fork to eat, when he took a look at his blond friend. “Hey Naruto, you alright?”

Naruto was blankly staring at his tray with an empty gaze, slowly eating his meal while taking slow, careful sips of his water. He seemed deaf to the world, not having said even a single word to any of them ever since they started eating. 

“Naruto.” Andrink snapped his fingers twice in front of the blond. “The Imam asked you something.” 

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?” Tarik said to the Russian. “I just read the Quran often when I’m free.” 

“Yo, Tarik.” A random man walked past Naruto, tapping Tarik on the back. “The third drill’s out of commission again. It overheated itself, and now the cooler’s busted. Mind repairing it?”

Tarik, who was assigned as one of the drill operators of the lower levels, also happened to be a good mechanic, who was tasked to help with mechanical repairs. This earned him plenty of respect from both the slaves and the slavers, since they got to save money and equipment. 

“Sure. I’ll have to ask permission first. Our crew is busy working on that mineshaft that broke down a few weeks ago.” 

“The Supervisor already gave you permission. Add to note, he also wants you to cut your breaks to avoid any more problems with those Zygs.” 

The man then left, leaving a frustrated Tarik behind. 

“Fuck me...” Tarik pinched his nose and let out a groan. “Fucking taking away my fucking break? I swear that the damn Supervisor’s testing me.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. They’ll give you shit no matter what happens, so just finish your food, and then get back to work.” Andrik shrugged, before going back to his meal. 

“Hey.” 

Naruto looked up from his meal, and internally groaned as he saw a familiar pair of slender legs. His eyes being wise enough to not linger in that area, he looked up to see the familiar dull color of beskar armor. 

SLAM! 

They flinched as she slammed her tray in the middle of the two, gaining them a lot of attention. 

Naruto tried to look up at the girl, only to feel something being dumped onto his head. He licked at the wet sludge that ran down his face, and realized that it was his food. 

This got some whistles and gasps from the other slaves, whose attention was now turned towards the two’s confrontation, which, while not news, was certainly the drama that everyone was interested in. 

Naruto just sighed, being quite used to her behavior at this point, and just looked up at her. “Sabine…” 

The black haired girl just glared at him, before grabbing his cup, pouring its contents all over his head to finish the job, completely soaking his already-dirtied shirt, alongside his hair and face. She then threw the cup onto his lap, before grabbing her tray, stomping away. 

“Hey! What’s your problem?!” Andrik stood up, yelling at her as she continued to walk away. “I’m speaking to you, сука!” 

“Leave it, Andrik.” Naruto said to the Russian, waving it off while removing his shirt to try to dry it. “Just ignore her, I’m already used to it.”

Tarik shook his head. “I don’t get it. What have you done to piss her off?”

Rolling his eyes Naruto answered, “Apparently when I told her my last name, it got her pretty angry. She slapped me, called me a poser, then walked away.”

“What? Just Uzumaki? Your family got beef with hers or something?” 

“That I don’t know.” Naruto said, shaking his head. “I don’t even know who my parents were. I have been an orphan since the day I was born.” Naruto’s face tightened into a scowl as he twisted his shirt one final time, wringing out any remaining water in it.

“Sorry to hear that, my friend.” Tarik bowed his head in sympathy. Knowing full well the horrors and struggles of a soldier, he had his fair share of meeting those without parents, whose lives were lost on the battlefield, be it a fellow warrior or an innocent bystander. 

“Well, life is a journey of hardship, my friends.” Andrik said to them. “From that you’ll become stronger, and I can assure you that with that patience of yours, you’ll become what’s worth of you.” 

“Thanks, Andrik.” Naruto shook his hand. “I appreciate that.”

“I gotta go now.” Tariik said, pushing his tray in front of Naruto “Here, take mine, you’ll need it.”

“Hey man, I-”

“Just take it, brother. A life worth living is a life with giving. ” Tarik said with a smile, patting the blonde’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine, you just make sure to have something in your stomach. I’ll see you later.”

Leaving the table for his next assignment, Naruto and Andrik were left by themselves to try and finish eating their food. 

It would be ten more minutes before they would be close to finishing their meal.

“Ain’t wasting this for sure.” Naruto stated, pouring the remaining water into his own flask. 

“Smart kid.” Recognizing that voice, Naruto turned around to see Zeb standing there.

“Zeb,” Naruto stood up, slapping hands with the lasat. “You just finished your shift?”

“Sure did, kid.” The lasat said. He frowned when he finally noticed the mess on Naruto. “What happened?”

“Sabine Wren.” He shrugged, nodding to where she was sitting with the other female slaves. 

“Her again?” Zeb asked, shaking his head. “You know, that brat’s got a problem with you, but I just don’t know why.”

TRIIIIIING!

A loud, ear-piercing alarm rang, signalling the end of Naruto’s break. “Well, gotta get back to work. See you later, Zeb.” Naruto said, patting the Lasat on his back before picking up his tray and walking towards the exit.

“See ya, kid.” Zeb said as he walked over to the others to take his break.

… 

Walking outside of the mess hall, Naruto entered an outdoor corridor, which bordered the edges of the mine. Sticking his head out, he looked up to see the top of the sinkhole, watching the transport ships coming in and out, no doubt dropping off and collecting slaves and spice for their twisted business. 

Naruto clenched his hands as he thought about the many slaves that perished daily. He flinched as he watched countless bodies fall down into the bottom of the sinkhole. Those were the slaves that died from dehydration, malnutrition, or from various accidents, but their slavers weren’t very concerned, since there was a lot more from where they came from. 

He shook his head. He couldn’t think about them now. For now, the only thing the Leaf Shinobi could do was to try to survive. 

* * *

**[Coruscant - Jedi Temple]**

Master Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, and Mace Windu sat in the Council chamber, talking to the holographic image of Grand Master Yoda. He had just contacted them, telling them about his sudden decision to test some of the Elementian children’s blood for Midichlorians. 

“Master Yoda, are you sure that the results of those two are correct?” Master Plo Koon pleaded for clarification.

_“Incorrect, the test never is.”_ Master Yoda replied. _“Hyuga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke, force sensitive, they both are. High midichlorian count, they both possess.”_

“But this can’t be.” Shaak Ti was flabbergasted at the results, staring at it again. “Their midichlorian count rivals yours, Master Yoda. This can’t be a coincidence!”

Master Windu, who was silent up until now, decided to finally speak his thoughts. “What would you suggest, Master Yoda?” 

_“Bring them to the Temple, we must.”_ Yoda said without hesitating. _“Train them in the way of the Force, we will. Too dangerous to leave them alone, it is.”_

“What about the council?” Plo Koon brought up. “These two children are even older than Anakin was when we took _him_ in. Surely the rest of us will reject them.” 

_“Special training, receive they will. Necessary, it will be.”_ Yoda answered, looking at the Togruta Jedi. _“Master Shaak Ti, teach the Hyuga girl, you will. Shy she is, but strong and determined, she also is.”_

Master Shaak Ti bowed to the grand master. “I will be pleased to do so, Master.”

“Who will teach the boy then?” Plo Koon asked. “Finding the right master for this boy will be crucial if we are to stop his darkness from spreading.”

Yoda and Windu took one look at each other, and instantly knew who would be the best one suited for this task. 

This did not go unnoticed by Plo Koon, as he asked, “Who do you have in mind, Master?” 

“Who do you have in mind, Master?” 

“Someone who we both know, Master Plo.” Mace Windu said solemnly.

* * *

**[Ölüm]**

The sun was growing lower for the spice planet, which meant the end of another day of mining for the slaves. They were being escorted back to their cells, which many were more than happy to hurry back. Not only were they done with the work and the abuse, but the metal beds were limited, which meant that the unlucky ones had to sleep under the beds or on the floors, which wasn’t very comfortable (even though the beds themselves weren’t that much better.) 

TCHK! 

A small ball of light was ignited as one of the slaves lit their lighter. Pulling out a cigarette, which was smuggled inside by one of the newest slaves, he lit the tip, before beginning to smoke it. The said smoker was a young man with the same skin tone as Tarik, but hailed from a different country.

Slowly sucking in the cigarette before slowly breathing it out through his mouth, he continued his story. 

“So like I was saying, I used to work in the oil refinery with my father in Ra’s Lanuf as a transporter, but when the civil war came along, we all got caught in the crossfire. Most fled the town, mostly towards Egypt or if lucky, Tunisia. Many died in the firefights and the bombardments, and the others went missing, like my father and three of my uncles.” 

He paused for a moment to take another smoke, before he continued. “After the war ended, I went back into my town to try to find some work. Couldn’t find any, since the refinery was blown to hell, so I hooked up with some oil smugglers, who did business from Egypt to Algeria to even Sudan.” 

The current speaker was Ibrahim Rida, a new slave that was native to Libya. He was forced to work as a driver for the spice transport wagons, which collected all of the harvest spice, before being brought up to the load up point. Despite the situation, however, he was crafty enough to smuggle a few things inside of the mines, which instantly gained some respect and some favors from his fellow slaves. 

Handing over the cigarette to Andrik, he began to wrap up his story. “I was doing this from 2012 to like 2014. Made a good fortune of bringing oil to the black market.” 

“How’d you manage to cross those borders? I thought they closed them down when the war began.” Tarik asked his fellow Arab while sitting on the bunk bed with Andrik, who would hand him the smoke once he was done with it.

  
  


“Oh that? Psh, that was easy. Just wait till it’s dark, then the guard’s will be easier to avoid. Besides, even if they catch you, just throw them a small bribe, and they’ll usually look the other way, since they’re not very interested in stopping fuel tanks if they get something out of it.” Ibrahim shrugged. “The fact that they usually got their own kids to feed helps, so I make sure to give them a thousand diran each. Shit, sometimes if I was generous enough, I’d make it two.” 

Tarik just shook his head, before blowing out his smoke. He then passed it down to his other cellmates, who, at first glance, sort of looked like them in terms of skin color, but was actually Mexican, who, alongside Ibrahim, was brought in just last week. An experienced miner, he went by Jimmy Reygadas. 

Speaking of Jimmy, it was him who asked the next question. “Okay, so how’d you end up here, amigo?”

Ibrahim frowned when he was brought back to that unpleasant memory. “The smuggling crew of mine got greedy, and eventually turned to slave trade.” He closed his eyes as he shook his head. “I declined, of course, and stuck to just smuggling oil for a few more years until those Salafist bastards took over Ra’s Lanuf, and I was left with nothing as I fled from home again. I didn’t want to run for too long though, so I ended up joining a local militia that was with the government. We soon went back to Ra’s and kicked those bastards out of my town. Damage was done, though, since my whole neighborhood was pretty much abandoned, with only a few left, who managed to hide from those assholes. Ra’s Lanuf was a ghost town for a good few months.” 

Ibrahim paused as he was brought back to that moment. Slaughtering those bastards was satisfying, but it was a bitter victory once the last bullet had been fired. The town, which was once full of life with the sound and presence of street vendors, kids, and numerous small shops. The silence was honestly a lot more unsettling than the sound of gunfire if you asked him. 

“After that, the militia I was with turned to Sirte, where we heard about a slave auction that was about to go off. Turned out it was a trap, and we were ambushed. And what do you know, part of them included my old smuggling crew. They thought that it was a good way to pay me back by selling me off into the auction, and you can guess the rest.” Ibrahim ended with a glare, staring into his lighter, which he flicked on and off an random. “Should’ve killed them before when I had the chance…” 

“Should’ve killed them there when I had the chance…”

The other men fell into silence to give respect to the man. Eventually, it was Jimmy’s turn to share his story.

“I come from Minés Villa, which was a mining town just south of Cananea. I worked in the illegal mines with the other villages up in the mountains. Wasn’t anything else to do but to try and make money, and it was either the mines, or go try to find work somewhere else. Anyways, I worked in the mines since I was eleven, so I got pretty much used to the dust in my lungs.”

“Jesus, man.”

“I get that, but really, I got good at it.” Jimmy smirked. “I know how to set up a basic mineshaft. Lights, ventilation, air conditioning, transport, you name it. Then I turned 18, and the government came in and shut down all the mines, leaving everyone who worked in the mines without any sort of income, and the town quickly became deserted.”

“Wow, that sucks.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Jimmy said, taking another drag. “So me and my familia moved to Nuevo Laredo, where my abuelo lived, who was working as a cop back then. ” He tapped his finger on the smoke, and watched the ashes fall onto his lap, before taking another puff. “Mi Familia, my people, and the rest of the community are hard working people. Good men, too. The only thing they feared was God Almighty himself and nothing else.” Jimmy said, crossing his heart.

He then glanced at Tarik, who just shrugged in return. A bit relieved at the absence of religious conflict, he continued.

“Mi abuelo and mi tío were cops, working hard for the family and to keep the streets clean. But then out of nowhere, my grandfather and my father got sacked by the police commissioner. No explanation, no warning, just told them to leave, before taking their badge and their gun.” 

Jimmy’s face grew darker as his fingers squeezed the cigarette. 

“It didn’t make sense to me until that Friday night. A couple of cruisers just rolled up in front of my house, and with no warning, just shot the whole house up with everyone in it.” 

Jimmy’s fingers curled around the dying cigarette, crushing it with his hands. It burnt his skin, but the man didn’t seem to care. 

“Nobody in that house survived that day. I was the one lucky one - or I guess unlucky, if you can say so. I was arriving home on my bike when I saw it all happen. Right in front of me, my mama, papa, my uncle, my three sisters and brothers were just killed like animals in front of me. Murdered by the people that we thought were friends.” 

“They were corrupt, weren’t they?” Naruto, who was the quietest of the group so far, finally spoke up from his bed, staring at the darkening ceiling. 

“Si.” Jimmy nodded grimly. “The commissioner, the lieutenants, even the fucking highway patrols, they were all paid by Los Zetas to kill my family just to tell everybody that they ruled Nuevo Laredo. They were former cops, turned rogue after they got training from those pinche Gringos across the border. Fucking Americans created a big mess like how they did in Libya, eh, Ibrahim?” 

The Libyan just nodded. “Yeah…typical.” 

“Anyways,” Jimmy sighed, dropping the remains of the cigarette, “my family was killed because my stubborn old grandpa refused to stay quiet about the corruption that was poisoning our city. The final straw was when he found out the mayor was meeting with drug traffickers. He tried to tell everyone, but those bastards got to mi familia first…” Jimmy shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he buried his face into his hands. 

“You alright, Jimmy?”

“Sorry, but when I keep thinking about it...” His fist hardened into a fist, his knuckles whitening from rage. “I just feel like going on a rampage, matando a cada bastardo que mató a mis seres queridos.” 

“Ey, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.” Andrink cut in. 

“I know.” Jimmy sighed, reaching for something under his shirt, which turned out to be a silver cross necklace with Jesus on it.

“I just feel like I’ve been weak on my response to all of this.” He said, clutching onto his cross. “I’m not comfortable with talking anymore…”

Andrink nodded. “I understand, my friend. Life can be cruel.” 

They then fell into a tense-filled silence, hearing nothing but the snores and the whimpers of the other slaves.

“You know what,” Naruto suddenly said, “when I hear all your stories, a part of me feels jealous.” 

“What do you mean?” Ibrahim wondered.

“I’ve never had parents since the day I was born.” Naruto said solemnly. “They died when I was born to protect the village I lived in. I never had a mom to pick me up from school, and to prepare me dinner. I never had a dad to teach me anything, or to just hang out with.” 

Naruto’s frown turned into a glare as he began to recall all the bad memories he had with his village. 

“I’m not kidding when I say that from the day I was born, it just seemed like everyone and everything hated me. Everybody hated me for something I wasn’t, blaming me for the attack on my village, and for getting the previous leader killed. It never made sense, and to this day, it still kind of doesn’t. If it wasn’t for the leader of my village, I think I would’ve gone mad years ago.” 

Naruto’s blue eyes then softened when he thought about the people in his life that made him smile. 

“There were only a handful of people in my life that helped me stay positive. Funny enough, one of them was technically an enemy. I was on a mission with my team to protect a bridge-builder from a group of assassins. One of them was Haku, who I met after falling asleep outside. I didn’t know that he was my enemy at the time, and looking back, he could’ve killed me on the spot. Instead, we had a nice chat together, and he even taught me that the greatest source of strength comes from protecting those you love.” 

“That’s pretty deep, amigo.” Jimmy nodded. “What happened to him.” 

The sudden silence that ensued said it all, and he winced at that. 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah. I guess that’s just life…” 

TING!

Everyone turned to the cell door to see a Pyke guard slamming his stick against the door.

“Lights off, up to bed.” The Pyke guard said, walking passed their door. The moment the guard left the lights above the five youngmen turned off, leaving the only light in the darkness to be the red burning cigarette.

“Alright,” Ibrahim took another stroke before exhaling “Let’s sleep, bastards.” he dropped the smoke and put it out before everyone started moving to their bunk beds. Trying to get as much sleep that they could for the next day. 

Laying on the down bed underneath Naruto was Jimmy who decided not to sleep underneath Ibrahim’s smelly ass from the food he’s been eating in the kitchen with his connection. Hoping that Naruto would be less of a nuisance.

“Sleep well, Amigo.” He said to Naruto crossing his arms while closing his eyes. Leaving Naruto to keep staring at the ceiling without a inch of sleep in him. Instead he reached down to his jacket he managed to scavenge from another deceased slave and pulled out from under it his pedant, he stared at it knowing he was lucky that the slavers didn’t confiscate it as he hid it for as long as he could being it the only reminder of his home. Gripping it into his hands he made a promise to himself in his mind, one of the things the old man 3rd Hokage told him.

_‘I will not give up, I will not.’_

* * *

**[Elementia - Uzushiogakure]**

  
  


Uzushiogakure. 

It was once an island full of life. An island full of civilians and shinobi, who kept to themselves as they practiced the art of sealing. 

They were the Uzumaki clan, an infamous clan of powerful warriors, with skills in sealing that was unrivaled. 

But that was in the past. The once glorious village was now in ruins, destroyed by enemies who never took credit for their successful annihilation of the clan, leaving nothing behind but still running whirlpools, corpses, and broken, empty buildings. 

  
  


CRACKLE! CRUMBLE.

Jango and Cad Bane were currently walking through the ruins, having flown to this island from all the way from Kamino on the _Slave I_. Cad Bane was brought along on this field trip, and while the ruins did serve to somewhat fascinate him, especially after hearing all the legends from the Mandalorian walking next to him, he was still irritated from the flight. 

“Unbelievable…” The helmed warrior breathed as he made sure to take in the sights before him. No Mandalorian had ever set foot upon this place again, seeing as how they never needed to, and because they never received the call to. Plus, there was the constant wars that was fought that included their participation, many of them ending up to be civil wars. On top of that, his people before him we’re forced to swear to never return to this cursed planet unless their brethren summoned them. However, after so many years of silence, it was clear now why they never even got a call back to make sure that they were okay. 

“Hey, Fett.” Cad Bane grunted, flicking away his toothpick. “You mind telling me the purpose of this depressing field trip? This place gives me the spooks.” 

He had just walked past a corpse, which still had its forehead protector and armor on. It looked to be in many different pieces, indicating that this poor fellow was blown to bits. 

“I told you, I’m here to look for something.” Jango answered, his heart feeling heavy from seeing the abandoned corpse of the Uzumaki. “Some...possible artifacts that they left behind that I can possibly use, as well as that boy, when we save him.” 

“ _If_ we save him.” The duros grunted. “What destroyed this place, by the way?” 

“No one knows.” Jango admitted. “All we know is that this island was set ablaze, destroying nearly everything here.” He kept his vizor running, scanning to try to find anything.

“Great.” The duros sighed, looking around the ruins again nervously. He nearly jumped when he realized that the Mandalorian had stopped walking. Looking in front of him, he realized that they were standing in front of a wall, with ancient writings and carvings on them. Bane realized that Jango was touching the spiral, which had a hole in the eye. 

“I wonder…” Jango dug around in his pocket, and pulled out a clear crystal. Before Bane could ask, Jango stuck the crystal into the hole, and they both discovered that it was a perfect fit. 

“A key?” 

Just then, the wall began to glow bright blue as the carvings and the text began to emit the same light. It started from the center of the whirlpool, before quickly spreading to the rest of the wall. 

Jango yelped as the blue light and text suddenly crawled onto his arm. Letting go of the crystal, he staggered backward as he tried to swat the glowing text off of him, but just as quickly as it latched onto him, it suddenly disappeared. 

Before either of them could start any questions, Bane pointed back to the wall. 

“I think you opened a door, Jango.” He noted. Looking back at the wall, it would seem like he did indeed open some sort of gateway, as the glowing spiral drawing began to suddenly unravel itself, the hole in the middle growing bigger, until it grew big enough for a man to walk through. 

The minute the whirlpool stopped expanding, the giant hole stopped glowing, allowing them to look back at it with ease. Even with Jango’s visor, he found the light to be quite blinding. 

“...” 

“...” 

“...Well, here goes.” Jango muttered, before he took a brave step forward. Stepping towards the hole, he hesitantly stuck his hand forward, and found that it went through the hole. Astonished, he quickly pulled it back, and found that his hand was back in the light, and not submerged in the dark hole. 

“...” Saying nothing else, the Mandalorian took a deep breath, before he stepped inside the portal. 

The darkness seemed to swallow him whole as he completely passed through the opening. Shrugging, Cad Bane quickly followed suit. 

The minute he completely entered the hole, the whirlpool portal closed shut behind them. 


	6. C6 - "The Call of the Dark Side"

**[Kessel - Ölüm]**

The roar of a ship’s engines screeched across the land as it flew through the air. Flying over the landscapes of the mining planet towards its destination, the Sheathipede transport shuttle only began to slow down once it flew over the mining hole that was named Ölüm. It’s landing gears opening up like a large, metal insect, it slowly hovered down onto one of the few landing pads the mining hole had, with two members of the Pykes Syndicate and Darts D’Nar himself awaiting the ship. 

Once the shuttle settled down, it’s doors slid open, and out walked the Prime Minister of Zygerria Atai Molec himself. 

“Prime Minister Molec.” D’Nar welcomed him. “It’s an honor to be privileged with your presence, my lord.”

“Darts D’Nar.” Molec regarded while looking around. “I’ve been sent by the queen herself to bring a clear message to all of her subjects who have operations like yours on Kessel. I suggest we talk about this in private.”

“Of course.” D’Nar nodded in respect. “Let us go to my office. From there, you can see the whole operation for yourself.” 

D’Nar then snapped his fingers, and a Pyke member quickly walked forward to give them their air masks.

“Another mining accident, I presume?” Molec frowned, putting on the mask. 

“Unfortunately.” D’Nar sighed. “As profitable as this mine is, it isn’t without it’s own set of problems. This mine is ancient, with many of its walls weakened from constant harvest. Despite the new reinforcements my slaves have built, it was only a matter of time before another mine collapsed.” 

“Any casualties?” 

“A few, unfortunately. We lost a few slaves, as well as two of fellow zygerrians, and even a couple of Pyke members. Such a tragedy.” 

“Quite.” 

… 

The two Zygerrians sat in a high room, surrounded by soundproof windows where they could see the whole mining operation down below, from the very top to the very bottom. D’Nar ordered a nearby slave to pour two glasses of wine for the both of them as he explained the extent of his operation. 

“As you can see, I have over 50,000 slaves working non-stop, 24/7 on the job, finding, gathering, and transporting spice to the upper levels, where the processing teams will extract the Kessoline from the Kessel Stones so we can sell the minerals for narcotics as spice.” D’Nar stopped for a moment to down his glass, before he continued. “That alone makes a good fortune, but really, it’s the coaxium that’s the real money maker.”

This was something that got Molec to raise eyebrows. “Coaxium? That’s a rare hyperfuel. Pretty dangerous too.”

“But also very lucrative.” D’Nar smiled. “I’ve just discovered a large amount of that fuel is buried right beneath us. The minute this was discovered, I have prioritized its mining and doubled the workload for all of my slaves.” D’Nar said, not being able to contain his chuckle. He was now standing above a fortune that would last almost a lifetime of profits he could now accumulate, with an unending flow of slaves that were being brought in every day.

Molec nodded, becoming quite impressed with the zygerrian’s work. 

“I see that you’ve made some admirable progress, which puts the other slavers to shame with your successes.” The Prime Minister said, looking back down at the area below them. He watched as a large group of slaves were beginning to line up. “D’Nar, why are those slaves not being put to work?” 

“Oh, you mean those from the Omega Sector? They are merely refilling their canteens before they go back to work.” D’Nar answered. “This particular group has earned their little reward, since unlike the other slaves like the wookies and the others from the Outer Rim, these slaves have been making much more progress in my mine than all the others.” 

It wasn’t very uncommon knowledge that humans were rather a popular race to enslave. Not only do they tend to last longer in a vast majority of climates, such as the sweltering one in Kessel, but they also tended to rival in physical beauty at times with the Twi’leks. It also helped that with all the human-supremacy attitude that was spread across the galaxy, it was admittedly rather satisfying to put them in their places. 

It honestly seemed like his birthday when the Zygerrian Empire heard about the planet Earth, a lush planet full of humans. When the Separatists began to forge alliances in that planet, it allowed the Zygerrians to use the Separatist connections to sneak onto the planet to smuggle some of the humans out for their personal use. It was surprisingly easy, due to the fact that this planet had “third world countries”, which the United Nations put less attention and care into, and thus, made it significantly easier to capture and ship future slaves. 

The two zygerrians stared down at the line up as one particular blond was about to have his turn at the front of the line. 

* * *

**[ Outside of the Cafeteria Entrance ]**

There was a large line waiting outside of an entrance to the inside of the mine, which lead to the cafeteria. Instead of only waiting for food, however, these slaves were also waiting for their second refill for their canteens, which was pretty rare. The slavers called it their reward for their hard work, but the people knew better. They all knew that the slavers acknowledged that if they wanted the slaves to harvest more spice and the coaxium, they’ll have to give them more food and water, otherwise, the slaves will die at a much more faster rate, and replenishing their numbers is always too troublesome, hence why the slavers made some effort on keeping them alive. 

In that line was Jimmy, who was talking to Tarik and Adrik about the new mine that they had extended with some other slaves, making some serious progress by applying more support beams that minimized the chances of the mine collapsing again. It was thanks to the Mexican’s experience working in the mines that they thought of this, and after getting permission from their slavers, they were able to build the support beams. 

“Man, we’re lucky that you knew your shit, Jimmy. If you didn’t explain to that fucking Zyg about the need for the support beams, more of us would probably die from another goddamn collapse.” Tarik said to the Mexican with a handshake. “I owe you one, man.” 

“Don’t thank me, amigo. Thank the Lord.” Jimmy pulled out his cross necklace. “If it wasn’t for his grace, then the whole ceiling would have collapsed.” 

“You trying to convert me, Jimmy?”

“Well, if I have a chance-”

“Man, even on a different planet, you Christians and Muslims are still at it, huh?” Adrik teased them. 

“Well, a man’s gotta find a way to pass the time.” 

That voice belonged to a very large man, who was covered head to toe in tattoos. His arms, legs, shoulders, and even the back of his head decorated by art, the only part of his body left untouched was his bald head and forehead. 

“Joseph.” Jimmy walked up to him in shock as he extended his hand to him. “Good to see you’re still breathing, amigo. I heard you were working down in the underground with the Wookies.” Joseph Iberra was a fellow Mexican who grew up in the same school as Jimmy, but unlike Jimmy, who went to try and make an honest living, Joseph was someone who had a dirty history of smuggling dope across the US border, which ended when he got into trouble with his last shipment. Before he knew it, he was sold off as a slave, and ended up in Kessel.

“I was…” Joseph shook his head as he gained some worried expressions from the others. “...I’m the only one left alive. Kessoline gas came out from the wall, and all hell broke loose.” Everyone winced when he mentioned the Kessoline leak. Much like dioxis, if you breathed it in, you were a dead man within seconds. 

“So you mean-”

“I just finished dragging their bodies to their final resting place if you know what I mean.” Joseph said grimly, sounding very weary. “Wasn’t a pleasant task to do.”

“Ain’t it ever.” Jimmy put a hand on his countryman’s shoulder. “Get in line, we’re about to get our canteens filled.” He pulled his friend in the line before anyone could say anything else. 

Meanwhile, up in front of the line, Naruto was just about to take his turn. He was waiting for Zeb to finally fill his canteen, waiting patiently for his turn.

“Never thought in my entire life that being in front of a water can would be the best day of my life.” Zeb said, half-smiling as he closed the tap of the water, before taking a sip from his canteen. “Ohh, that’s good.” 

“If you don’t mind, big guy, there’s a line.” Naruto reminded him, jerking his thumb at the growing line behind them.

“Hehehehe, right.” Zeb closed his canteen and walked out. “Your turn, kid. Make every drop count.” And just like that, after what seemed like forever, Naruto was in front of the line. After taking a moment to enjoy the reward of his patience, he stepped up to the water tank, and turned on the faucet. 

While the water splashed and bubbled into his nearly empty canteen, Naruto found himself staring at the small, muddy puddle that sat near his feet. He could’ve been losing his mind, but he suddenly saw a younger version of himself smiling, with him being around Sakura, who was high-spirited as usual. Kakashi-sensei was giving his eye smile while holding his nasty book, while Sasuke was giving his usual gloomy look. 

The water began to hiss, and Naruto realized that it was almost full. Quickly shutting it up, he was about to recap his canteen, when someone roughly stepped in front of him, splashing the water all over his already dirty pants. He looked up, and saw that it was Sabine. 

Getting into his face, she snarled, “So I heard you and the Earthlings got yourselves a special favor for rebuilding a whole mineshaft.” 

Naruto just sighed. This girl was obviously trying to provoke him, and at this point, he was quite used to this behavior, even though he never understood what was the cause of their bad relationship. 

“Well, got anything to say, kid?” 

“No.” Naruto answered while trying to close his canteen. “I’m just trying to get some water after some backbreaking work. So if you’d excuse me-”

“Like hell I will!” She slapped the water canteen from his hand, and he watched in horror as it fell onto the dirty ground, most of its contents splashing all over their feet and the ground. Everyone gasped and jeered at the sight of the two of them fighting again. Someone in the background yelled at them to just kiss and make up, but both of them didn’t hear it. 

Sabine took it a step further and grabbed the canteen, before spilling the remaining water right in front of him. “Here, try and enjoy it now, filthy imposter.” 

His expression blank, he bent down to his knee to try to touch the spilled water with his hand, ignoring the shoutings from his friends, who were demanding to know what was going on. 

“You know what, Wren?” 

“What?”

“This!” Naruto suddenly scooped up some of the water, and threw it onto her face. Caught off guard, she stumbled back as she tried to wipe away the sludge. Stumbling, she tripped over a large cable, making her fall onto the ground. 

“Consider that a fucking warning.” Naruto warned her with a glare. “I normally don’t hit women unless I have to.” 

“Coward!” Sabine shouted as she kicked his leg, sweeping him off his feet as he fell onto his rear as well. This gave her the chance to jump right onto him, and began to punch him right in the face. “I’m not some girl you think you can just slap around!” 

Months of pent up aggression and stress went into blow after blow, her small fists slamming into every inch of his body that she could hit. One of her hits landed onto his mouth, and when she retracted her hand, his lips were bleeding, much to her satisfaction. 

Her grin quickly faded as he suddenly grabbed her fist midair, and quickly twisted it slightly, causing a sharp, intense pain to erupt from her wrist. 

“AARGH!”

Seizing the moment, Naruto punched her in the face, before flipping her off of him. Before she could have time to react, he quickly crawled on top of her as he grabbed her neck, squeezing it hard. 

Sabine gagged as she struggled to get him off of her, slammed her fists into his arms to make him release her, only for her to stop when she looked into the boy’s eyes. 

They were cold. Just dark and cold like it was Death itself standing right in front of her. Was he really about to kill her in front of everyone just like that? It was then that she felt fear. Fear of dying. Fear of dying before she got a chance to even say goodbye to her family. The world began to turn black as she was running out of air-

ZAPPP!!

Suddenly, Sabine realized that she could breathe again. Coughing, she blinked the spots out of her eyes as she tried to process what just happened. Looking up, she realized that Naruto had collapsed, with a Pykes guard standing over him, an electrostaff in his hands. 

“Stand back!” The other Pykes guards ordered, driving them away with their own electrostaff and whips. “Stand back, slaves!” 

Someone grabbed Sabine’s hair, and she cried out in pain as she was pulled up, forcing her to stand on her feet as one of the Pykes roughly forced her up. She could see the two other Pykes stomping on Naruto repeatedly to the point where he started to spit blood out of his mouth. 

“Starting fights, aren’t ya!?” The leading Pykes sneered as he stopped the beating. “Well, let’s see how you like that now. No water for you for a week!” He turned around to Sabine, and pointed at her. “And you. Don’t think you’ll get away with it. The both of you will be placed in the Cleaning Unit…”

Both of them now forced onto the ground on their stomachs, Sabine could only thank herself for this mess she got herself into. Now she was put a week without water AND been given  _ that _ task for a week. She wondered what the kid was thinking, especially when she saw him just staring into the ground like he didn’t seem to care. That, or he had a concussion.

“Back to work, all of you!”

… 

D’Nar couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight below him. “And yet, that Elementia boy failed to finish off the Mandalorian. How disappointing.” 

Molec was curious to know what he meant. “You let your slaves fight against each other? Why not simply teach them a lesson?”

“Oh, I do.” D’Nar shrugged, ordering his slave to pour himself another glass of wine. “I’ll let them work in the Cleaning Unit, although…” D’Nar let out a harsh laugh. “I heard that they call it ‘The Grave Unit.’ Rather fitting, admittedly, since for the most part, they are disposing of the dead bodies of the slaves at the bottom of the mine.” 

“Gruesome.” Molec chuckled, before taking a sip of his wine. 

Placing his empty glass down, he let out a small burp, before he continued. “Do you think you’ll have enough workers for a small project?” 

D’Nar listened while pouring another glass for Molec “What kind of small project? If you didn’t notice, I’ve already got my hands full at the moment.”

“It won’t take much for you and you’ll get handsomely paid.” Molec got up from his seat, and began to walk around, staring at the slaves below. “There are certain...individuals who are in need of a certain area where they could test their ideas in the dark if you can say…”

“So someone wants to use my slaves for experiments.” D’Nar quickly deduced. “I suppose I can be generous. I am a man of science, after all. Still, it won’t be for free.” 

“You’ll be compensated, that I assure you.” Molec told him “I just need to know if you’re willing to contribute some space, slaves and equipment to these fine gentlemen.” Molec said remembering the conversations he made with these individuals, who wanted to keep this as secretive as possible. Should their plans ever be exposed to the Republic or even the Separatist government, they would face a lifetime in prison, assuming they weren’t given the death penalty..

“Let’s bring up a toast to this opportunity then.” D’Nar said raising his glass to Molec’s level. “To progress.”

The glasses touched each other.

“To progress.”

* * *

**[ Ölüm, Level 50 - The bottom of the sinkhole ]**

The Grave Unit was a job that nobody wanted. Granted, no one wished to do any of the work here, but this job was one of the worst ones a slave could do. Tasked with the job of disposing garbage, which included the bodies of the deceased slaves, it always left the unfortunate slave feeling depressed after they were done. 

A body of a deceased Togrutan male was carelessly thrown onto a large, metal wagon, which looked ancient. Naruto flinched as he saw countless bodies under the Togrutan. Some were fresh, and some have been down here much longer than the others, with the stench being a dead giveaway. Even with the tied cloth around their mouths, the stench was still unbearable. Gagging, he shook his head, and tried not to think about it too much. 

Letting out a painful sigh, he let out a groan as he tossed another body into the conveyor belt, which led to the incinerator. Turning back to the wagon, he flinched as he saw one of the bodies staring at him. A Wookie, whose head was split open, probably due to being beaten to death, had its eyes still open, which, despite the lack of life in them, was still staring into his soul. Shivering at the sight, he lifted his hand towards his face, closing them gently. 

“Sorry…”

“Ruto!” Naruto turned around to see a man wearing an improvised gas mask over his head. Dressed in filthy clothes taken from the corpses, the man was huge, easily overtowering both Naruto and Sabine. 

This man was named Levi Laskov, although many just called him “Bomber”, due to only a handful of them actually knowing his name. Not many knew who he was or where he came from. The only thing everyone knew, however, was that he was the unfortunate one who was stuck working here for the rest of his life. 

“Hey, Bomber.” Naruto waved at him, before wincing. The Russian giant did not fail to notice this. 

“Them Zygs mess you up?” He asked, already knowing the answer. “She responsible for it?” 

He jerked his thumb at her, who was currently loading another body onto the belt. Naruto nodded, and Bomber snorted. 

“Lovebirds. Alright, time to get to work.” 

Before Naruto could argue against that, a loud buzz rang through the air. They looked up, and saw more bodies falling from the sky. Some of them landed on the large, metal wagons, and some of them fell onto the floor with a nasty  _ crunch _ . 

“...The next batch?” Naruto asked stupidly. Bomber just nodded. No more words being needed, they both got back to work. 

The three of them continued to toss the bodies onto the conveyor belt in grim silence. Bomber made sure to count the fallen, while Naruto and Sabine made sure to keep the fire going and to help Bomber load the bodies. 

“Okay.” Bomber finally spoke, immediately grabbing their attention. “We’re done for this area. Time to move on to the next one.” 

“Right.” Naruto and Sabine sighed in unison. They looked at each other for a moment, before they quickly looked away. 

… 

Ten grueling hours have passed now, and yet somehow, Naruto was the only one that wasn’t showing any major signs of exhaustion as he laid down another body onto the conveyor belt. 

  
  


That, however, didn’t mean that he was enjoying the work. 

Naruto grunted as he massaged his shoulders, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “This goddamn heat. Can’t fucking get used to it.” 

The operator just pulled on his filter mask, before turning to Naruto. “Then you better be thankful that we’re almost done for the night. I’ll handle the rest here, so can you do one more run? We’ll be done then for today.” 

Naruto nearly cried from relief. They’ve been working for almost twelve hours straight, with only a half-hour break in between. “Yeah, sure, no problem.” 

“Good kid.” Bomber nodded. He noticed that one of the carts was already gone. “I guess the girl already took off. Go help her so that you’ll be back upstairs sooner.” 

“Right.” Naruto said, turning around. “See you in a bit, old man.” 

… 

  
  


You would expect that the bottom of the pit would be a small area, but Naruto and Sabine learned the hard way that it was just as large as any other level. 

Naruto winced as he took another step forward. He realized just how much his feet and his body hurt from the whole labor, which somehow seemed much more difficult than mining for spice or fuel. 

_ ‘On top of that, it’s fucking creepy.’ _ He thought, glancing at the empty, filthy area around him. While seeing dead slaves wasn’t exactly a new experience, there was at least plenty of other company around him that was alive, be it one of the slavers or another fellow slave. In here, however, you were mostly alone, save for the others that you could share your misery with. 

SNIFF. SNIFF. 

Naruto froze, his tired muscles suddenly clenching up as he thought he had heard something. His minimal training kicking in, he began to silently walk towards the source of the noise. 

His ears now focusing on the source of the noise, his eyes widened when he realized what the noise was. 

Someone was crying, and it sounded like a girl, judging from the breathing and the restrained sobs. He walked over to where it was coming from, and saw that it was Sabine. Sitting against the metal cart, her head was buried in her legs as the woman was breaking down. 

Naruto, who was feeling pretty awkward, cleared his throat. Sabine’s head shot back up, hitting her head onto the metal crate. Hissing in a foreign language he couldn’t understand (but somehow, it sounded familiar), he had to hold back a chuckle as she tried to glare daggers at him. 

“I guess you just needed a break.” Naruto said, walking past her. He began to load up the bodies onto the metal crate. “The work sucks, I know, so I get it if you need to take a break.” 

“What’s wrong with you?!”

Naruto turns his head towards her. “Excuse me?”

Tears leaked out of her eyes as she hastily tried to wipe them away. “We’re in here just  _ throwing _ bodies in these ovens to burn like garbage after they’ve been worked to death, and we’re just dragging them around like they don’t matter!” Now standing up, she kicked the cart in frustration. 

The young man stood there awkwardly as the Mandalorian girl kicked out her frustrations, before sinking back onto her butt. Whatever fire she had was gone, replaced by just sadness. 

“I’m stuck here with you, surrounded by stacks of dead people with no way out of here…” She sniffed. “I miss my family… “ 

Sabine couldn’t hold it in anymore as she began to cry into her legs. “I’m going to die down here, with my body joining the others into that furnace, with the last memory I have of my family is of that fight…” 

Naruto bit his lip as he watched the tough, rowdy Sabine - the girl that always tried to start problems with him, - began to finally break down, just like how he and many of them did at some point. 

“I’m going to die.” The coughing began to replace the sniffing. “I’m - * _ cough _ * - I’m - * _ cough _ * - going to die in this hole.” 

The coughing sounded serious as she kept on going for a good minute. Naruto realized that she probably needed water, since the last time they drank was when they had that fight in the afternoon. 

CLUNK.

Sabine looked up, her eyes now bloodshot, and saw his canteen next to her. “Wha-?” 

“Take a break.” Naruto told her as he placed the last body into the cart. “We’re done after this load, so let me handle it.” 

He began to push the cart into the dark tunnel. 

“Wait!”

Naruto turned around back to Sabine and she was about to ask a question.

“Why are you giving me this?” She demanded, shaking the nearly empty canteen in her hand. “I didn’t ask for your help!”

“Because you’re in distress.”

“I’m not a helpless girl.” Sabine growled. “A Mandalorian survives and adapts, and we certainly  _ don’t _ ask for any handovers-” 

“Then why the hell are you in here then?!” Naruto snapped as he stopped pushing the cart, turning around to give the girl an irritated glare. “Because let me tell you. Your stupid pride about being a Mandalorian and not taking handovers ain’t getting you nowhere. And frankly I’m starting to think you Mandalorians are more talk then doing it.” Naruto was getting enough from this nonsense about this ‘Mandalorian pride’ from what he was hearing and now it came to this point where even a helpful gesture was seen as an insult.

“And yet, here we are.” Naruto cut her off. “I don’t know much about your people, but from what I heard, we both come from a heritage of warriors. Didn’t really do us much good now, huh? The point here is that everybody needs somebody, and right now, you need me, just like how I need you and Bomber to help us clean up this cesspool, and try to survive another day.” 

And with that, he turned back to shove the cart of bodies down the tunnel, stomping all the way. 

Sabine just stared at his shrinking figure, her eyes narrowing at his declaration of his past. Her fingers curled into a fist as she slowly followed him. 

… 

Naruto’s blank eyes stared as the last body was pulled into the flames, joining the rest of the fallen slaves to their disgraceful grave. He slowly looked away as he let out a sigh. 

“Ruto.”

Hearing his nickname, Naruto turned his head to see that it was Bomber, who removed his large mask. “I see you’ve finished your last batch. Where’s the girl?”

“Sabine.” Naruto sighed at the mention of the Mandalorian girl. “She’s waiting at the elevator. After she helped deliver the last batch, she told me she’d wait at the elevator for me. ”

“I see.” Bomber grunted as he reached for the controls below the conveyor belt. Pushing the big red button, the machine slowed to a stop, as its job was finally done for the day. “You can go now. I’m just going to double check the machines in case I need to do some repairs for it again.” 

“Need some help?”

“Nyet,” Bomber declined the offer “You did enough for tonight. Go and try to get some sleep. You’ll need it, and try and forget about this night.”

“Not sure if I can.” Naruto replied grimly, refusing to look at the flames again. “This isn’t something we do from where I’m from. My village only burnt the bodies of our enemies, not… innocent people. Whoever thought of doing this is a monster.” 

“You’re telling me, my friend.” Bomber chuckled without humor. “Bit of irony that those Zygs gave me this job. My ancestors would weep in shame if they saw what I was forced to do.” 

“What?

“Nothing, I’m just mumbling to myself.” Bomber said, waving him off. “Just go now, I will see you tomorrow. Make sure to get plenty of food and water in your belly.” The giant said as he walked to the back of the incinerator. 

“Night, Bomber.” Naruto waved him off as he turned around and walked towards the mining elevators. If he wasn’t so down and tired, he would’ve let out a small cheer at the fact that his shift was finally over.

… 

Sabine was standing by the mining elevators, waiting for Naruto to arrive so they could finally go back to their cells so they could try to sleep this horrible night off.

“Sabine.” She turned around, and without saying a word, she clicked on the mining elevator’s door for it to open. The two humans walked inside, and Naruto wished that the elevator, which was large enough to fit about a dozen people, had chairs or something to sit on. 

Waiting for Sabine to go first, he pushed on the level he needed to go, and they silently waited for the elevator to take them to their designated area. The elevator groaned as it strained to move it’s large body and its two passengers up. The machine was ancient, with constant maintenance the only reason why it hasn’t given out yet. 

SLAM! 

Naruto nearly fell over as the elevator shook. Getting his balance back, he realized that they weren’t moving anymore. He turned towards the controls, only to see Sabine yanking out a few wires out of place. 

“Sabine, what are you doing?” 

“Creating an opportunity.” She said coldly. Stepping away from the disabled controls, she cracked her knuckles as she rolled her neck. “You and I never finished that fight properly. It’s time that we finally settle this.” 

“Oh, Kami.” Naruto groaned. This wasn’t over? “Literally woman, what is your problem?”

SHINK!

His eyes widened as Sabine pulled out a handmade shank from her pocket. It was nowhere near as dangerous and sharp as a kunai, but it looked like it would still do a lot of damage if she overpowered him. 

“You’re the problem.” She snarled. “You walk around sullying the name, ‘Uzumaki.’ As if  _ you _ , a random nobody, could be from a clan of ancient Mandalorian warriors. If you really were from that clan, then where’s your armor? They let me keep mine for some reason, but I heard nothing about your armor. So tell me, why  _ shouldn’t _ I stick this where it doesn’t shine as punishment for sullying that name?” 

Tired, trapped, and honestly fed up with this girl, Naruto just sighed as he got into a fighting stance. 

“You know what? Fine. I can tell that you’re stubborn like me, and that even if I somehow got out of this, you won’t stop until you finally get your rematch.” He slowly walked up to her as she walked up to him. “Just to let you know, I  _ tried _ to be nice to you. But now? One of us is going down.” 

Sabine responded by charging with a yell, going for the first blow by trying to cut him in the chest. Naruto dodged her slash and grabbed her arm, twisting it to force her onto her knee. The shank fell onto the cold, metal floor with a loud CLANG! 

But Sabine wasn’t done yet. Reacting quickly, she kicked his leg with her other foot, which got him good. He let go of her arm, and she used this chance to grab the shank, before driving it into his shoulder. 

“Fuck!!!” Naruto roared as he backhanded her away. Gritting his teeth, he hissed as he ripped it out of him, before tossing it into the side. 

CRUNCH! 

Naruto saw stars as Sabine kicked him in the face. He flew back a few feet, and it didn’t take a doctor to know that she fucking broke his nose. 

“Come on!” She roared at him. “Are you a real Uzumaki? Or did you just pick up that name because you needed to feel important?” 

“...” 

Sabine stopped when he froze. She waited for him to strike back, so that she could counter him again, but something was wrong. He wasn’t moving. 

...Come to think of it,  _ she _ wasn’t moving either. She tried to move her legs, her arms, even her head. She. Couldn’t. MOVE! 

What was this? Some kind of trick? Was she poisoned? Drugged? Or-

Her eyes widened as her brown orbs met yellow. Glowing, sick yellow eyes, which seemed to stare into her soul, met her terrified brown ones.

SLAM!

Sabine saw stars as something hit her head. Groaning, she blinked the stars away as she quickly tried to figure out what had just happened. 

Something was on her back. Something hard and cold. 

...No, nothing was on her back.  _ She _ was on something.  _ She _ was stuck to the wall! 

Turning her head back towards the boy, her heart was struck with fear once again as his eyes stared hatefully into her soul. Her eyes traveling towards his outstretched hand, it suddenly hit her: He was a Force wielder! Which must mean-

Her thoughts were cut off as her body slowly left the wall. Despite the dark magic that was going on, however, she was still staring into those yellow, rage-filled orbs. 

SLAM! 

Naruto thrusted his fist forward, and Sabine flew back onto the wall. She groaned in pain as she saw stars from the impact. 

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! 

Saying nothing at all, the boy began to use the Force to repeatedly throw Sabine back and forth into the wall behind her. Each impact was more painful, with each throw being stronger than the previous ones. 

It hurt. Everything hurt as Sabine began to lose consciousness. She was sure that she was going to die there. She was going to die by the boy that she antagonized endlessly, and she would die, knowing that she was wrong, and that this boy  _ was _ a true Uzumaki. 

It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense really. How she got there, how he survived the bombardment, why his hair was the color of the sun, why she was going to die without even saying sorry to her family. 

“P-Please.”

It was just a whisper. A small, faint, weak, whisper, but Naruto somehow heard it, and stopped his assault, her body dangling weakly like a marionette in the air. Blood dripped from her face and mouth as she coughed, expelling a faint, red mist. 

“Please.” Using every little strength she had left, she slowly looked up at him. It hurt. It hurt to be reduced to this mess - to be begging for her life pathetically after everything she had done to try to hurt him. “Let me go.” 

Suddenly Naruto’s eyes turned hollow as a sudden past memory came through his mind.

_ Hinata was laid on her back with blood coming out of her mouth after being horrible beaten by her cousin Neji in the Chunin Exams. _

_ “P-Please.” _

“Hinata?” Naruto muttered as his eyes turned to normal.

“W-Who’s Hinata?”

CRACK!

The ground around them suddenly began to shake as the elevator groaned, it’s support systems finally failing after all these years. Naruto’s eyes widened as Sabine fell back onto the ground, barely alive. 

“Sabine!” Naruto shouted as he ran up to her, now fully realizing what he had done. Putting his body above her, he closed his eyes as he tried to summon the Kyuubi’s chakra. 

CRUNCH! CRASH! 

The elevator’s final support system broke as he fell back down, bringing an avalanche of rocks, dirt, and spice with it. 

The last thing Naruto remembered was a loud, final crash, and everything went black. 

* * *

People ran as they tried to flee the continued collapse. People ran as they tried to help the others. 

The elevator crash was heard by everyone, both the slaves and the slavers alike. Without even asking for permission, they already left their beds to check out the damage, as well as to search for survivors. 

“Out of my way, now!” Tarik was one of technicians who rushed through the ground to figure out what had just happened. He jumped over the rails to look down into it.

“What the kriff just happened?” D’Nar, who was coming down with his guards on his hovercraft, roared at the slaves. 

“From the looks of it, the support beams must’ve finally given out.” Tarik explained to the zygerrian. “It looks like it took everything down around it, from loose rocks, spice, and anything else that was within 10 meters of the elevator shaft.” 

Jimmy was the next to check the mine. He examined the damage top and down, and shook his head. “That must’ve been twenty levels up before it went down. No one can survive that.”

“I don’t care about survivors. I want that elevator working again!” D’Nar spat at them. “No one leaves, and no one eats until this place is cleaned up! Understood?!”

That earned the zygerrian a lot of glares from the slaves, which he returned, challenging them to do something about it. It was a tense minute before the slaves eventually looked away, grumbling as they began to get to work. 

“One day I will do this to him.” One of the slaves said, gliding his finger over his neck.

“Let’s not waste our time here.” Adrik shouted, gaining everyone’s attention “We’ll need headlights, cables, shovels, carts, pickaxes, and anything else you can find. The faster we finish this shit, the sooner we can go back to sleep.”

Everyone was just standing there like a herd of sheep, until Jimmy came up and stirred it up.

“What are y'all waiting for, a tap on the back? Vamos!” He barked at them, and the crowd scattered as they started looking for some equipment for the task that was waiting ahead for them.

* * *

Naruto’s entire body felt like hell, especially his shoulder. Blinking, he realized he couldn’t see. Panic began to take over his mind as he began to hyperventilate.

**_“Oi, gaki! Calm the hell down!”_ ** The Kyuubi’s voice suddenly boomed in his head. 

“Kyuubi?” Naruto asked out loud. 

**_“Yeah, it’s me. You’re welcome.”_ ** The chakra monster grunted.  **_“Long story short, you used the Dark Side to kick that Wren girl’s ass, and you ended up bringing down the entire elevator and everything else within several meters radius. You both survived, thanks to my chakra, but not only is she dying from her wounds you inflicted on her, but you’re also stuck under all the rubble.”_ **

“What?” Wincing, he slowly managed to push off the large slab of rock off his back. His body felt like he got hit by a spaceship, but he did his best to ignore the pain. Digging around his pockets, he pulled out a small, cool plastic tube. Breaking it in half, the glow stick began to do its job, illuminating the small pocket of space they were trapped in. He frowned, seeing that they were indeed trapped inside the remains of the elevator and the countless number of rubble. 

“Great.” Naruto held his head back, feeling a huge headache coming on. “Just fucking great.”

**_“That’s not all.”_ ** Kyuubi reminded him.  **_“Look to your left.”_ **

The blond turned his head to the left and saw that next to him laid the body of the girl that he almost killed. 

“Oh shit! Sabine!” Naruto carefully crawled towards her, and gingerly rolled her over. This caused her to moan in pain, which made his hand jerk away from her. 

She looked terrible. She was bleeding from her head, which he was sure was cracked, and she was barely breathing. Each inhale and exhale made her whimper in pain, and he realized just how badly he ended up hurting her. 

“Ah...Fuck!” Naruto cursed to himself, feeling helpless.  _ ‘Kyuubi, please help me!’ _

**_“...There might be one way you can help her.”_ ** The Nine-Tailed Fox finally said. 

“Anything!” He nearly screamed. 

**_“Alright. You’ll have to listen to me very carefully. Tell me, how much do you know about the Force?”_ **

“...The what?” 

… 

Naruto gulped as he took another deep breath. 

He had just returned from his meeting with the Kyuubi, with the fox telling him to retreat to his mindscape so that they’ll have more time for the fox to describe everything to him. Seeing as how they had plenty of time, he decided to get some questions answered, like why he was quiet all this time. 

Naruto got pissed when he said that he wanted him to taste true suffering to help build his spirit, but he had to admit that the whole experience did help him grow up a bit. 

**_“Remember, brat,”_ ** The Kyuubi’s voice echoed in his mind.  **_“You need to let the Force flow through you. Keep your mind at peace so that you can heal the ones you love.”_ **

Naruto said nothing as he closed his heads, placing his hands on Sabine’s head. He could feel her suffering. He could feel her pain. Her sadness. Her fear. 

**_“I’ll help you just once, alright, brat?”_ ** The Kyuubi said.  **_“After that, you’re on your own.”_ **

Naruto nodded as he began to meditate. 

_ “It’s okay.” _ He spoke to her through the Force.  _ “It’s going to be okay.” _

Naruto stayed like that for a minute as he sat there on his knees, doing his best to use the Force. For one terrifying moment, nothing happened. 

Then, he felt it. He felt a wave of calmness and light coursing through his veins. Instead of feeling powerful, however, he felt calm. He was at peace. 

Sabine moaned, and he opened his eyes. Much to his delight and relief, he saw the blood receding back into her body. Bones clicked and cracked as they were being gently mended back together. Bruises faded and swellings went down. Sabine’s whimpers of pain turned into sighs of delight. 

Naruto slowly lifted his hands, and listened for her breathing. Her breathing returned to normal, which made him smile. 

Closing his eyes, he laid his head onto her chest as he fell asleep. 

… 

POKE. POKE. POKE. 

Naruto grunted, before his hands shot up. It grabbed something thin, but soft. 

“Ow! Naruto!” 

He blinked, and he realized that Sabine was the one that was poking his cheek. 

“Sorry.” He grunted, letting go of her wrist. She rubbed her wrist, wincing at how hard he had grabbed it.

The two of them then fell into silence for a while, unable to say anything to each other, or even meet each other’s gazes. 

“...” 

“...” 

“...I’m sorry!/I’m sorry!” 

The two of them simultaneously turned towards each other, and quickly shot out their apologies. When they noticed that they had both said their apologies in simultaneous haste, they looked away, embarrassed. 

“I uhm, I’m sorry for being an ass to you all this time.” Sabine finally managed to say. “I...I thought you weren’t a true Uzumaki, and that pissed me off.” 

This made the blond raise his eyebrow. 

“Um, wait a minute. What exactly do you mean by “true Uzumaki?” 

Hearing this, the Mandalorian looked back into his eyes. “You really don’t know, don’t you?” 

“No, I don’t.” Naruto’s shoulder slumped, his eyes drooping to her knees. “I’ve been an orphan my entire life, with my parents killed minutes after I was born. Everyone in my life either refused to talk about my parents, acted like they didn’t know, or claimed that they were nobodies. Hell, some of them even said that my mom was a whore, and my dad was a good-for-nothing drunk.” 

“Well, they’re wrong.” Sabine said quickly, her hands clenching on her knees. “If I’m correct about where you came from, you belonged to an ancient race of Mandalorians, who stayed behind on your planet to keep an eye out on an ancient monster that once lived there. At least, that’s how the stories go.” 

This certainly got his attention, with his gloomy expression turning into one of desperate, childish interest. 

“I don’t know how much of the stories are true,” Sabine continued, “But the one thing every clan can agree on is that at one point, the Uzumaki’s became one of the strongest clans on Mandalore, my... _ our _ , homeplanet. They fought in the wars against the Jedi and the Sith, with them winning more battles than losing. Then at some point, they teamed up with the two factions to defeat a common enemy, which is why they fought and stayed on Elementia.”

Naruto looked at her for a moment with a strange expression on his face. 

“...So wait, why are you convinced again that I’m an Uzumaki?” He asked her. “It’s not just because I kicked your ass, right?” 

Sabine’s eyebrow twitched at that, before she cleared her throat. 

“No, it’s because of  _ how _ you beat me that I became convinced that you were a Mandalorian by blood. You see, one of the reasons why the Uzumakis were one of the strongest clans was due to their ability to use the Force. The minute you used it on me, I knew that you weren’t just some yellow-haired idiot that decided to steal the name.” 

Now it was his turn to grow a bit ticked, although he did his best to not show or express it. 

“...Can you tell me more about our culture?” He asked softly. Sabine gave him a small, sad smile at that. 

“I would, but maybe after we get out of here.” She offered. “I mean, we are running low on oxygen, so the less we talk, the longer we’ll survive.” 

“Oh...right.” 

The two of them sat in silence for a while, staring into each other’s eyes.

“...You have pretty eyes, dattebayo.” 

“Eh?” 

* * *

“So, what do you think brought down this old piece of junk?” Joseph asked. 

“Who knows, amigo?” Jimmy just shrugged. “It looked like every part of this thing was ancient. I guess it was only a matter of time before it gave out.” 

They were at the lowest level of the mine with many others. Thankfully, the elevator wasn’t the only way up and down these levels, which meant that more help was on the way. 

“Well, this thing ain’t gonna clean itself.” Jimmy sighed. “C’mon, break over.” 

“Right.” 

The two of them resumed picking up large rocks and debris, sweating profusely. It was a humid night, and their clothes were already sticking to their bodies. They were back to work for only a minute, and they were already panting like dogs. 

“Be very careful.” 

The two of them jumped at the sudden, gruff voice behind them. 

“Jesus, Bomber. Don’t fucking scare us like that.” Jimmy groaned, clutching at his heart. 

“Sorry.” He breathed in and out after running up the stairs without a break, before he cleared his throat. “I hope I’m wrong, but I think ‘Ruto and Peach is stuck under there. We need to be extra careful cleaning up this mess.” 

The two of them blinked, before they fully realized who he was referring to. Turning towards their colleagues, they began to spread the news of potential survivors in the crash. Bomber, meanwhile, stared at the pile of rubble with a grim look. 

“Stay alive, kid. You’re a survivor.” 

Almost as if responding to his words, the rubble suddenly began to tremble. Everyone’s eyes widened at this, and they began to scramble for cover. 

But not Bomber. He just stood there, prepared to help his friend out if needed. His feet began to move forward, when they froze in their steps. For a moment, he could’ve sworn that the rubble was levitating. 

It stopped when the rubble began to further collapse on itself. A large, metal beam fell on top of the growing pile, and the trembling stopped. 

Bomber just stood there, gobsmacked at what he just saw. 

* * *

“Fuck, Naruto! Stop!” Sabine hissed. 

Naruto, whose face was scrunched up from effort, finally let his arms drop, and the trembling stopped. 

He had just tried to use the Force to lift the rubble off of them. Much to their displeasure, however, it only just made things worse, as the rubble collapsed on itself the minute he finally began to successfully lift the mess off of them. 

Fortunately, it at least gave them some fresh air to breathe in, but now the space had been reduced, leaving them  _ very _ close to each other. 

Nose to nose, the two teens could do nothing but sigh in displeasure as their situation had just turned from bad to uncomfortably worse. 

“Well,” Naruto grunted. “What now?” 

“...Your breath kinda smells.” Sabine complained. 

“So does yours, dattebayo.” He deadpanned. 

The two of them just stared at each other. Without warning, they closed their eyes as their heads leaned into each other. 

… 

After what seemed like an eternity, the two finally parted. Panting, they stared at each other in wonder, stars in their eyes. 

“Wow.” Naruto breathed. 

“Wow.” She agreed, a small smile curling up her lips, before she sighed. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“...I don’t think we’re going to make it.” Sabine admitted, staring at the rubbed around them. “I never thought my life would end like this. I thought I’d die on the battlefield or something, not like this.” 

“Same here, actually.” Naruto grunted. “Being a shinobi ain’t a pretty career either, let me tell you that.” 

The statement wasn’t meant to be comedic, but somehow, it made the Mandalorian girl giggle. “Well, I guess we’re more alike than we thought.” 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Naruto chuckled. He began to cough, forcing him to turn away from the girl. 

*COUGH!* *COUGH!* *COUGH!* 

Hearing his coughs grow eerily louder, she looked over his shoulder, and paled at the sight of blood splattering onto the ground. 

“Naruto?! Hey, hey!” Sabine patted her palm onto his cheek. “You okay?” 

“My-*COUGH!*-body hurts.” He groaned. “Some shit...fell on me.” 

Gulping, she slowly lifted the back of his shirt, and paled at the sight of his terribly bruised back. If what he said was true, then his back might’ve sustained more damage than she thought. 

“Shit, shit shit.” Sabine muttered, her eyes darting around, unsure of what to do. 

“It’s fine, Sabine.” Naruto groaned. “Should be fine…” 

“Should be fine?! Are you crazy? You might be dying right now!” 

“Just the life of a shinobi.” He grunted, spitting out some saliva and blood. “The moment I signed up to become one, I knew what I was getting into. It’s just a part of our lives. You get used to it.” 

“Stop talking.” She whispered, tearing off a part of his shirt to wipe away the blood from his mouth. “Just...hold on, okay?” 

“I don’t have much to lose, which just makes this much easier.” He sighed, his eyelids growing heavier. “I got no parents. Not many friends. Had to raise myself. Sucks that I never get to find out what they were like.” 

His hand rested on his stomach, exactly where his mark was. Despite him being a jinchuuriki, even he knew that there was only so much they can do, especially with how much the seal allowed them to do so. Still, even now, he could tell that Kyuubi was doing his best to keep his container alive, although at the moment, it was too slow of a job. 

“Stop.” Sabine whispered, her eyes shadowed by her hair and the dying light. 

“You know, I meant it, dattebayo. You’re...a good looking girl. Once you get past that stubborn nature of yours, you’re not pretty bad yourself. Took me too long to stop looking at Sakura. Damn, I was an idiot. Falling for a stupid fangirl.” 

“Fangirls, huh?” Despite looming over Naruto’s slowly dying body, even she couldn’t resist a small chuckle. Back on Mandalore, she remembered how most of the girls in her class acted like good-for-nothing fangirls over the old ways, without even having any proper respect for their ancient culture. Most of them couldn’t fight to save their lives, and mostly consisted of gossiping bullies that were more bark than bite. “So, any decent female shinobis back at home?” 

“I can name a few.” Naruto grinned painfully. “There was Ino, who was fangirl, but was actually kinda good. There’s Tenten, who really liked weapons. Then there’s Hinata…” 

His words began to trail off at the mention of the Hyuuga’s name, which didn’t fail to catch Sabine’s attention. 

“What about her?” 

“...She was shy.” He finally managed to say. “Sweetest thing to probably come out of my village. Was always nice to everyone, even me. Was a bit of a crybaby too, now that I think about it.”

He stopped, and Sabine feared the worst, until she heard him slowly swallowing, wetting his throat. 

“We…*hah*...graduated the same year. Turned out...she had a fucking crush on me. Me, of all people. She was so innocent, but so determined. So determined to not be a weakling. She’s...strong.” Naruto’s eyes began to close as he was losing the battle to keep them open. 

“Hey, HEY!” Sabine shook his shoulders. “Stay awake!”

“You know what?...You remind me of her a bit.” Naruto smiled at her. “I mean...you’re not very girly...but you both got the same, cool determination. Got...same smile too.” 

“You damn charmer.” Sabine let out a dry chuckle as she brushed his hair out of his face. “Stay alive, and I’ll make it up to you, okay?” 

“I’ll...take you up on that.” He grinned, before he closed his eyes, the darkness finally taking him. 

“Blondie? Hey, hey, HEY! Naruto, stay awake, buddy! C’mon, STAY AWAKE! NARUTO!” 

* * *

SCREECH!

A large sheet of metal was slowly lifted from the pile. A few rocks began to tumble, but Bomber and the rest of the team moved to quickly stop them, in fear of the small avalanche accidently crushing the potential survivor. 

After what seemed like an hour, they had finally spotted the two teens under the rubble. Bomber looked like he was about to poke fun at the two teens cuddling, when he paled at the sight of blood covering their bodies.

“Over here!” Bomber roared. “Survivors! Get the stretchers! Naruto is wounded!”

The two teens were carefully lifted out of there by the Russian giant. Gently placing them on the makeshift stretchers, he watched as they were being taken away to their crude medical center. 

Sabine, who had just woken up, wearily reached out to Naruto, just as he was lifted away. 

* * *

**(A Few Miles Away From Ölüm)**

Today was another beautiful morning for D’Nar. Stepping outside to enjoy the fresh air of Kessel’s forests, his ears were filled with the sounds of loud construction. 

While to many it was a perfect way to ruin a morning, for the zygerrian, it was the perfect way to start one. Sipping his tea, he sighed in delight as he watched the slaves below him work endlessly.

A new laboratory was being built on the edge of the forest, concealed by a large mansion that was also being built for D’Nar. 

While normally he would not go behind the queen, he would make an exception in this case. Despite his loyalty to the queen, he admitted to himself that she can be rather short-sighted at times, and was, if he must be honest, a spoiled bitch that can’t think outside of her world. 

When the humans from Earth contacted them, they were admittedly a little concerned, worried that their illegal actions were discovered. Much to their relief, instead of the government, it was an organization that wanted to strike a deal with them. All they wanted was a place to run their illegal experiments, as well as some test subjects to do the said experiments on. 

When the queen asked them what they had to offer, they promised them not just drugs, but also an army of biologically-enhanced slaves. 

The queen, for a moment, seemed interested in the idea of using science to accelerate the process of obedience, but then decided to reject their offer, saying that Zygerria already had a powerful military as it is, and that their methods were adequate. Besides, she didn’t want to risk getting the attention of the Republic, which would inevitably result in their army of Jedi bringing their glorious empire to ruin again. 

Fortunately for D’Nar, the Prime Minister shared similar views with him, seeing huge promises in this research, and the two of them talked to this mysterious organization again in secret, and here they were. 

“Sir, they’ve arrived.” A Pyke member walked up to him. 

“Let them in.” He commanded. 

The doors swung open as a group of men in hazmat suits walked in, carrying weapons and dragging in containers filled with supplies and force-knows-what with them. The filters on their faces made sure to not give away any part of their features, making them anonymous to the world. The one that stood out from the crowd was a young man in an expensive suit, who walked in with a confident grin. A large, black briefcase was in his right hand, which the zygerrian assumed and hoped was the money that was promised to him. 

“You must be the professor, I assume?” 

“Our sincere apologies, but no, I am his assistant.” The human representative spoke, pulling something out from his suit. Kneeling to the ground, he placed the object onto the ground, and a holographic image of a professor appeared. His face and name tag was blurred out, with the rest of his body remaining clear as day. 

“Who are you?” D’Nar demanded, his face turning into a scowl. 

_ “Mr. D’Nar, for my own safety I had taken the necessity of sending my best man on the job to come to our facility and help oversee the construction of it.”  _ The professor’s voice was scrambled, giving it a harsher, deeper tone. 

D’Nar wasn’t having this. “So you send a lackey here instead-”

_ “Don’t come to quick judgement like that, Mr. D’Nar.” _ The professor chided.  _ “You out of all people must understand that individuals like myself cannot risk to be seen near planets like these. We on Earth are not that free of going around as you have that privilege, especially with my country’s decision to join the Republic and my employer’s alliances being on the opposite side.” _

“Well, can’t fault one on being careful” D’Nar grudgingly acknowledged.

_ “We are all well versed in the art of politics, which has helped us get out of jams at times, but it is admittedly not my forte.”  _ The scrambled voice nodded.  _ “I am a man of science, willing to do whatever it takes to unlock the secrets this universe has to offer.. For that, I will have to thank you and your Prime Minister for granting me this opportunity.” _

“I’m glad to hear that, but so you know-” D’Nar smugly remarked, “My services come with a cost.”

_ “Of course.” _ The professor replied, turning to his assistant.  _ “Give him the credits.” _

The bald man nodded, before he lifted his briefcase. Opening it in front of the slaver, his mouth nearly salivated at the hundreds of thousands of golden credits. 

“Should our partnership continue well, we will deliver your weekly payments.” The professor stated, seeing the greed in the zygerrian’s eyes. The said zygerrian was barely listening, chuckling as he grabbed a handful of credits, feeling them with his hand. He was so entranced by the credits that he didn’t seem to notice a few slaves walking by with some cargo boxes. 

One of those slaves, an old man who was here his entire life, looked at the partnership going on. He shook his head, before he resumed pushing the materials. 

* * *

**AL: That’s it for this chapter! Hope everyone here is doing alright. This lockdown is really spiking up many writers to publish some stories. Got like six of my favourites in one day uploading, like damn!**

**Also, I’ll be working on my other stories. Plus, maybe some new crossover related to GTA. But I’m already working on both One Piece and GTA V stories some of you are waiting for. Plus the Saints Row one.**

**That’s all I have to say. Please wash your hands, keep up the social distancing, and please watch out for yourselves!**

**Peace from me and the friend Lucius Walker.**

**Till next time.**


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